Impossible
by QuickSpinner
Summary: Facts are facts. The sky is blue. The leaves are green. Water is wet. Guy's parents are dead. Aren't they?
1. Unexpected

There were people on the beach. Two, a man and a woman, standing hand in hand, watching the sunrise.

Guy and his adopted family stood just at the edge of the tree line, watching the strangers warily. Guy wasn't sure how to feel. He had hoped that others had found their way here, that he and the Croods weren't the last people left in the whole world, but Guy's instincts had not gone so silent that he did not recognize a potential threat to his territory when he saw one. They would need to handle this carefully. He felt Grug shift behind him and knew the caveman was thinking the same.

But there were only two of them. How much trouble could they be? And if there were more than two, better to start with the small group than wait until whatever friends they had brought along showed up.

"Well," Grug said grudgingly, apparently reaching the same conclusion. "I guess we better go say hello. Everybody stay close." He glanced down at Guy, who looked up at him and nodded. The two of them went first, the rest of the family trailing in a close knot behind them.

As they got closer, Guy sucked in a breath between his teeth. "Grug," he said in a low voice. "Let me do the talking?"

"Yeah," Grug said, taking in the stripes that the newcomers wore painted on their bodies. "Be careful."

Guy moved a step or two ahead, and opened his mouth to call a greeting.

Then the newcomers turned, and he stopped dead in his tracks. His throat worked, but no sound came out.

"Guy?" Grug muttered. Eep pushed her way to the front and touched his arm.

The strangers began to move closer to them, and Guy's heart beat harder in his throat as he looked at the woman. She was slender and rather tall, with prominent cheekbones in a narrow face and eyes so dark they looked black. As they drew near, she frowned, her head tilting to the side, looking confused.

"Mom?" he whispered. Distantly he heard Eep gasp, felt her hand tighten around his arm, but all of his attention was focused on the face he hadn't seen in so many years.

The woman's eyes widened slightly, and she suddenly lunged forward. Grug caught Eep by the arm just in time to stop her from leaping in front of Guy. The woman who looked like his mother took Guy's face in her hands, and they stared at each other, both seeking, both disbelieving.

"Guy?" the woman whispered at last.

"Mom?" his voice cracked and trembled like a little boy's.

His mother burst into tears and threw her arms around him, suddenly real and warm and alive. He could feel her pulse in her throat where it pressed against his cheek.

Shaking from head to toe, Guy looked over her shoulder at the man who stood behind her, bare to the waist, his chest crossed with dyed stripes. His eyes were alert and he had a wide mouth with full lips. He wore a feathered pouch on his hip. His shoulders were broad over a narrow waist and long legs.

"Dad?" Guy asked, his hands raising numbly to his sobbing mother's back.

"Hello, son," his father said, his voice thick with emotion. "It's been a long time."

"I don't...understand," Guy said faintly, and then he was falling.

* * *

_AN: I'll be first to admit this is kind of a weird idea, and it really doesn't make that much sense, but I couldn't get the idea out of my head. If you can suspend belief long enough to accept the premise, I'll try to make it a fun ride.  
_


	2. Unexplained

Guy woke back on his pallet of furs in the glade where he and the Croods had made their home. Eep was at his side the moment his breathing changed, her worried face hanging over his. Ugga appeared soon after. Guy's eyes flicked between them.

"Was it a dream?" he asked, eyes pleading. He was not even sure what answer he wanted.

"No," Eep said, laying a hand on his shoulder. Guy looked at Ugga, who shook her head.

"How is he?" a soft voice asked, and Guy turned his head to see his mother, the mother that had been dead for years, bending anxiously to look under the stretched hide shelter that hung over him. Eep leapt over Guy instantly to put herself between them and growled.

"Leave," Eep hissed.

"Eep," Guy's hand came up to grab her arm. "Eep, it's fine. I'm—I'm okay."

She turned and gave him a look that told him she knew he was the opposite of okay. Guy pushed himself up off his pallet, and got to his feet, ducking out from under the shelter to stand straight and face his mother. Her long hair swung to her waist just as he remembered, but where it had once been shiny black, it was now streaked with grey.

They stared at each other for a long moment. Guy could feel Eep at his side, tense and watchful.

"I thought you were dead," he said flatly.

His mother gave him a trembling smile. "I thought you were too."

Guy scrubbed a hand over his face in frustration. "That doesn't make any _sense_," he said, and anger suddenly bloomed within him, anger that she wasn't dead, because if she wasn't dead then that means she _left him_, and he has been alone dreaming of their horrible deaths in the tar pit for _years_.

Eep sensed his mood and a low growl started in her throat.

"Guy," his mother said quietly, "Why don't we sit down with your father and talk?"

Guy's fury grew with every breath, but suddenly Ugga's strong hand descended on his shoulder. He glanced back at her. "It's better to know, isn't it?" she whispered. Guy's shoulders hunched, but she was right. The truth couldn't possibly hurt worse than the scenarios his mind is already spinning. He nodded.

He looked up at his mother, his living, breathing mother, and jerked his head to indicate the direction. "We can talk by the waterfall."

She nodded. "I'll get your father," she mumbled, and practically ran away.

Eep straightened from her half crouch and put her hand on his arm again. "Are you sure, Guy?"

He looked at her and then pulled her suddenly into his arms, pressing his face into her hair. Her arms came up around him, strong and solid. Real. Known. Normal. He took a few shaking breaths, and then let her go. "Come with me?" he said numbly. Eep laced her fingers through his, and he clung to her hand with all his strength as they walked over to the small waterfall that trickled down the cliff wall at the back of their little valley. He'd spent hours there with Eep, enjoying the relative privacy of conversation provided by the burbling, gentle flow of the water down the rock slope. Guy suddenly wished he'd picked anywhere else for this surreal little chat; the memories here were too precious to be spoiled by – whatever was about to happen.

But it was too late. He sighed through his teeth as he saw his parents approaching. He stood stiffly, still clinging to Eep's hand, until they stood a few feet away. For a minute they all just looked at each other.

"Eep, this is my mother, Inda," Guy finally said. "And my dad, Pal. Mom, Dad...this is Eep."

Inda tried to smile. "It's nice to meet you, Eep."

Guy looked down at Eep and tilted his head. "I'll be okay. Just...stay close, okay?" She touched his face and let go of his hand. She gave his parents a sharp look, and then turned to the rock face, hauling herself up to her favorite perch on a ledge some distance above them. Close enough to watch and be there if he needed her. Far enough for him to feel like he was not too much of a coward to face this alone.

His mother gave a tentative smile. "She's pretty."

"Athletic," his father commented, eyeing the steep rock face Eep had just scaled.

Guy said nothing. He was not ready to talk about Eep with them yet.

His father cleared his throat and sat down on the grass. His mother sat down too, folding her delicate hands in her lap.

After a moment, Guy sat too, dropping into the same cross-legged pose his father used without even thinking about it. "So," Guy said stiffly. "Why don't you start with what happened after you told me to run and not look back. Because I've been having nightmares about that for years, just so you know."

Inda's breath hitched in her throat and she covered her face with her hands. Pal reached out and squeezed her knee. "Guy, we sent you away because we thought there was no hope," Pal said, his steady, deep voice seeming to vibrate through Guy's bones. Guy felt a twinge of envy; why hadn't his voice ever deepened to that timbre?

"Your father never gave up," Inda said, lowering her hands. "Even though he could barely move."

"I couldn't just let you die," Pal said, shuddering. "Not like that."

Inda covered his hand with hers. "He found a way," she said simply.

"We were lucky," Pal said, his eyes hollow. "So very lucky."

"Lucky?" Guy's laugh didn't sound anything like himself. It bordered on hysterical. He covered his mouth to stop it.

"Guy, we looked for you," Inda pleaded. "We searched for days." Her breath hitched. "And then we found your pack and the tiger den and there was so much blood-" Tears started and she covered her face again.

"We thought you'd died," Pal said, his voice hollow.

"I almost did," Guy said, closing his eyes tight against the memory, and it sounded like an accusation.

"We still looked," Inda continued brokenly. "We looked everywhere. We asked every person we came across if they'd seen you." She shook her head. "We asked for years." Her tears overflowed again. "Where did you go? Why didn't we find you?"

"I ran," Guy whispered. "I ran, and ran, and ran. I never stopped running." He looked up at them. "I didn't look back. Even after-" his left hand tightened. "I was afraid to stop." He shook his head. "But I was weak, and I got lost. There was a big canyon and I wandered in it for days-" He shook his head. "This doesn't make sense. This just isn't possible. We were going the same place. If you were alive, how did we never find each other? Why was I alone?" His voice was raising again, going shrill. He stopped and swallowed, dropping his gaze to the ground. "You have no idea," he shook his head. "No idea what it was like, always alone."

Inda glanced up at Eep, where she sat brooding on her ledge and back at Guy. "I didn't meet her—all of them—until later," Guy muttered, flicking a rock away. "It's been less than six moons, in fact." He looked back towards the camp. "If I hadn't met them—I think I might have lost my mind, when I finally got here."

Pal sighed. "I'm sorry, son. I—we made a terrible mistake. We thought we were doing the right thing. We just wanted you to live - and we didn't want you to have to live with the memory of seeing us die." His throat worked for a minute. "I'm sorry, Guy. I'm so sorry. I gave up too soon."

"Guy, we loved you so much," Inda burst out, weeping. "We never meant to leave you alone, we never would have sent you away if we'd known...I never, ever would have left you."

Guy's own eyes were filling. It didn't really make any sense, none of it did, it was too bizarre, too unbelievable...but suddenly he didn't care anymore. They'd wanted him, they hadn't left him, it hadn't been some elaborate, crazy trick to get rid of him. And they were alive.

"I missed you," he choked, his whole body shaking, and Inda threw herself at him, held him like he was still a little child, and he clung tightly to her. Pal came and put his arms around them both, and though he wasn't as powerful as Grug, or even Ugga, somehow his arms still meant safety to Guy.

"Come on," Guy said, when they had all cried themselves out. "I want you to meet the rest of the family." He disentangled himself and stood up. He looked up to where Eep crouched on the ledge, and grinned at her, waving. Eep's bright smile lit her face for the first time since he'd woken up, and she bounded so eagerly down the rock face that even Guy, who had seen her do it a hundred times, was afraid she would fall. He threw open his arms as she neared the bottom and she leapt into them, laughing, bowling him over backwards in the grass.

"Oof," he puffed, and laughed. Eep grinned and rolled off him, pulling him to his feet.

"You're better now?" she said, looking in his face.

"Yeah," he said, grinning.

"Good," she smiled, and then her smile turned shy as she faced his parents. "Um...sorry, about before," she said, looking a little embarrassed.

"Forgotten," Inda said, waving her hand.

Guy took his mother's hand in one of his, and Eep's in the other. "Come on," he said. "They're a crazy bunch, but they're family. I promise they're not so scary once you get to know them."


	3. Uneasy

_I feel like this one is maybe a let down after the first two chapters, but I'm not going to lie, this was a chapter that I just felt like I needed to get through to get to the really fun stuff, so it's a little clunky but I'm not going to beat it to death any further. This fic mostly consists of a bunch of conversations (some already written, some not) and the biggest challenge is getting from one to the other naturally. We'll see how I manage now that this monster is out of the way._

_Thank you Obsidios, SuperGuest, RhymesWithGrug and UnicornGirl11 for the reviews! They really make my day and keep me motivated. RhymesWithGrug, there's a note for you at the bottom of this fic since I can't PM you back. _

* * *

"Mom, Dad, meet the Croods," Guy waved his hand at the cave family. The six of them gathered together made an intimidating sight. All of them were big and muscled, except for the old woman and the baby. Under any other circumstances, Pal would have gone out of his way to avoid them. He reached one hand to take his mate's, and slipped the other behind him to check his knife in its sheath. Oblivious, Guy went to the line of Croods and slapped the large male on the shoulder.

"Big man here's Grug," Guy said, walking down the line of Croods. "This is Thunk," he put his hands on the shoulders of a boy much younger but much larger than he was. "Ugga," he put one arm around the mother, and one hand on the shoulder of the old woman. "And this is Gran. Don't let her fool you, she's the scariest one of the bunch." Gran giggled like a girl receiving a compliment. Somehow Pal didn't find that particularly reassuring. "You've met Eep," Guy nodded towards the redheaded girl, "And that little whirlwind over there is Sandy. Watch your ankles, she's been on a tear lately." Guy looked down as a small brown creature tugged at his pants. He reached down and lifted it, grinning. "And this is Belt," Guy said, holding the long-armed animal up. "He was my first friend." Belt waved a long arm, regarding them with a serene smile and surprisingly intelligent eyes.

Pal wasn't sure how to feel as his son stood there beaming, obviously proud of his absolutely terrifying foster family. How had the kid even managed to get within rock-hurling range of these people without getting crushed?

"It's nice to meet you all," Inda said in her soft voice, smiling. "My name is Inda, and this is Pal. Thank you for taking care of our boy."

Grug snorted, and Ugga smiled. "You might say he takes care of us," she said. Guy ducked his head and grinned. "Please make yourself at home," Ugga continued. "You're welcome to stay with us—" Grug opened his mouth, but Ugga put an elbow in his gut. "As long as you like," she finished.

"Uh, thank you," Pal said, leaning away from Gran, who had inexplicably appeared at his side and was sniffing his arm. "I appreciate—ouch!" He shook his leg, trying to dislodge Sandy from his ankle. Eep rushed forward and pulled her sister away. Ugga tossed her a bone, which Eep hurriedly stuck in Sandy's mouth. The little girl worried the bone and shook it ferociously. Pal edged away, pulling Inda with him.

For a moment the group stood in awkward silence.

"Um," Guy said, looking between his old family and new, Belt still cradled in his arms. "Maybe we should sit down?"

"My chair's broken again," Gran said in a pouty tone. Guy smiled.

"I'll fix it."

"I'm going out," Grug said abruptly, turning away from the group. "Come on, Thunk. We have a lot of mouths to feed tonight." He glanced at Eep. "You coming?"

Eep brightened, and then frowned, looking between Guy and her father.

"Go ahead," Pal heard Guy tell her in an undertone. "I'll be fine, and if you go we might actually end up with something to eat tonight."

She grinned and smacked his arm lightly, and then bounded over to join her father and brother.

Guy stepped over to Inda and motioned towards a large firepit circled in stones, with several large boulders set in a semicircle around it. Ugga was already moving in that direction. Pal trailed behind the group, finally taking a real look at their surroundings.

The Croods had made a good choice for their home. The small valley was cradled in the foothills of a large stone mountain, and surrounded on three sides by high stone cliffs. The mouth of the valley would be easy to defend from animals or invaders, and the waterfall at the back fed a stream that ran through the middle, providing a source of fresh water. There were a few trees here and there, mostly in little groups around the cliff walls, but the majority of the little valley was an open meadow.

The turf around the firepit was flattened and trampled, as if the area were used frequently. Ugga and Guy took places against the large stones, using them as backrests. Belt hauled himself up to sit on top of Guy's rock. Up close, Pal could see figures and markings painted on them in places.

Gran dragged a wooden frame over to Guy. He looked at it for a moment, and then got up and went to a nearby crevice in the cliff. He slipped through it and disappeared. A few minutes later, came back with vines and some large, flat leaves.

Ugga picked up a half–finished woven basket that lay near her seat, and put it in her lap. "Please, make yourself at home," she said again, gesturing.

Inda took a seat on the ground near Guy, and Pal sat on the nearest side of the circle, where he could keep an eye on the valley mouth.

"How did you all meet?" Inda asked her son as he sat down, and began the repairs on what Pal now saw was a very clever seat made of a lattice of vines over a wood frame, and a covering of woven leaves.

"Old woman like me gets tired of sitting on the ground," Gran said at Pal's elbow, noticing his gaze.

"Guy spoils you," Ugga commented. "You were just fine sitting on the ground before."

"Hmph," Gran sniffed. "Guy knows where he's appreciated."

Belt chortled, and Guy grinned, eyes on his work. "Well, they sort of kidnapped me," he answered his mother. Her eyebrows shot up. "I met Eep first," Guy amended, looking thoughtful. "She saw my fire and came looking to see what it was."

"She's always been so curious," Ugga said, shaking her head.

"Don't complain," Gran said. "Look where it got us!"

"I'm not complaining," Ugga said, frowning. "But it WAS dangerous."

"Anyway," Guy said, shrugging, "I warned her about what was coming, and asked her to come with me, and she said she couldn't. So I gave her a shell horn and told her to call me if she lived." He winced. "It seemed like a good idea at the time."

"It worked out," Ugga smiled at him.

"Anyway, she did call me, and—"

"And he saved our lives," Gran interjected.

"And they figured I was handy and – uh, stuffed me in a log." He frowned. "You know, this story sounds really weird when you say it out loud." Belt made a whirring noise that sounded like agreement.

Pal covered his mouth to hide a smile.

"Anyway, long story short, eventually I convinced them to come with me, and they let me out of the log, and well, it turns out that they're actually pretty awesome." Guy smiled at the ground. Gran patted his head. "So, here we are."

"He's being modest," Ugga told Inda, looking up from her basket. "We never would have made it here without him, and he's taught us a lot."

Inda was leaning over, looking at Guy's work on the chair. "I hope he's not the one who taught you to weave," she smiled, sounding like she was trying not to laugh. "Guy, this is terrible. No wonder it broke."

"I never was very good at it," Guy admitted, scratching his head. "Ugga's way better than me, and I just taught her to do it a few moons ago." He grinned at the cavewoman. "Turns out she's really good with her hands. She's gotten good at making spear heads, too."

"May I?" Inda said, touching the chair.

"Yeah, go ahead. Show me," Guy said eagerly, moving over to make room for her. Inda came to sit next to him, and took up the leaves he had laid out.

Before she could do anything with them, though, Guy caught her hand and held it up, looking at it. Inda glanced at Pal, who shrugged, as Guy put his own hand up against hers.

"We really do have the same hands," he said, as if to himself. "I was starting to wonder—" He let go of her hand abruptly. "Sorry," he said quickly. "I just – It's been a long time. I was afraid I was starting to—to forget. That maybe I was just making things up that I thought I remembered. Um..." He trailed off and looked away, clearly embarrassed.

Inda put her hand on his shoulder and squeezed. "I know what you mean." He looked back at her and she smiled. "I guess I'm going to have to make some new memories, though. You're so grown up now. What happened to my chubby little baby?" She pinched his cheek and wiggled his face around.

"Mom!" Guy flushed, pulling away, but he was grinning.

"He must have been a cute baby," Ugga said, chuckling.

"He was. Always smiling," Inda smiled herself at the memory. "He was a happy baby, and always surprising us. He didn't talk for ages, and then when he did, it wasn't just small words, it was 'Mommy, I'm hungry,' and 'When is Daddy coming home' and 'Can I have some more please?' All at once. Like he was waiting until he had a good grip on talking before he actually said anything."

Ugga laughed. "And now he never stops talking. Even when nobody's listening but himself. He talks while he works, he talks while he thinks. He only stops when he's eating or so out of breath he can't make a sound."

"It sounds like maybe he hasn't changed that much after all," laughed Inda.

"Hello, I'm right here," Guy said, looking thoroughly embarrassed. He glanced at his father, who held up his hands. _You're on your own, kid, _Pal thought_._

Guy rolled his eyes.

"All this jabbering isn't getting my chair fixed any faster," groused Gran, and Guy looked at her gratefully.

Inda went back to the chair, showing Guy what he had done wrong. Guy watched her face as much as her hands, and Pal sighed, wondering how different they looked to him. They'd been young parents when they lost him, and now here he was a man grown, and they well into middle age.

He could not help watching Guy's face himself, looking for the child he remembered. Even past the baby stage, his little boy had been round and chubby. Guy was all angles, hard and lean, not a large man but wiry. His hair was lighter and his eyes darker than they had been when he was little. He'd always had his mother's face, but the resemblance was even more striking now without the baby fat that had rounded out his strong cheekbones.

Oddly enough the greatest resemblance to the child he had been was in the intangibles, things Pal would've expected to be changed the most by a harsh life lived alone. His quick, broad smile, the brightness in his eyes, the eagerness and enthusiasm for life and learning, all of that was still there. Pal didn't know how Guy had managed to keep the best parts of himself and still survive out there on his own, but the father was glad, and relieved, to see it was so. It eased some of his guilty feelings.

Pal watched his mate, too. Something in Inda had broken when they had lost Guy. She was naturally quiet, gentle, and reserved, a bit of a dreamer and prone to think too much. Pal had barely been able to keep her moving those first few weeks after the tar pit. He had hoped that in time they would conceive another child, but they never had, and while she had mostly recovered from the loss, a part of her – perhaps the part that had always believed that her son was still alive somewhere – had remained turned inward.

It was good to see that part of her coming alive again. He could still see the pain of the lost years on her face when she looked at the man who had been her little boy, but there was something in her eye and her smile that had been missing so long, Pal had forgotten how much he missed it. It almost hurt to see it now, not knowing how long it could last.

He was so lost in watching them that he almost missed that Ugga had asked him a question. "I'm sorry, what?" he said, looking up.

"I said, how did you get here?" she repeated. "The mountain pass Guy led us through was destroyed. We barely made it across ourselves."

"Oh," Pal said, unfolding and refolding his legs. "There were several ways to get here. The mountain was the easiest to explain and the easiest to find, so that's the one I told Guy about. We were worried about getting through the desert, so we took a longer route and came through an underground cavern. We've been slowly moving up the coast ever since."

"Why?" Ugga wanted to know. "Not that we're sorry to have you here, of course you're welcome, but why keep going once you were safe?"

Pal shrugged. "To see what was out here," he said. Guy looked up and grinned at him.

"That sounds like my Dad," he said, and Pal broke into a wide grin back. Inda smiled at both of them, and Pal's heart squeezed as he looked at her.

Maybe it was time to give his wandering feet a rest for a while.

"Do you remember when we found that cave up on the shoals over the village?" Pal asked.

Guy's face lit up. "Yeah! The one with the crystals growing out of the rock? We saw something like that on the way here, only the crystals were huge—"

They passed the time swapping stories until the hunting party came home.

Eep preceded the rest of the party by several minutes, bounding up the valley on all fours. Pal wondered if she ever just _walked_ anywhere. She skidded to a stop in front of the fire, where they were all still sitting, and pushed her hair back out of her face. "Dinner's on its way," she said cheerfully. "Better get the fire ready, we got a big one." She winked at Guy. "Your pitfall trap worked great. Well – sort of. We kinda caught Thunk the first time, but we managed." She rolled her eyes. "I told Dad I should be the bait, but he didn't listen."

"Your brother needs the practice," Ugga said diplomatically. Guy got up and began raking the coals in the firepit. A few minutes later, Grug returned, walking, to Pal's shock, next to a huge, multicolored saber-toothed cat. Thunk lay on the cat's neck, asleep and drooling, with the kill draped over the cat's hindquarters.

"Uh," said Pal, gaping at the cat.

"That's Chunky," Guy told him. "Don't worry, he won't hurt you. At least, I think he won't." Guy scratched his head. "Turns out cats are a little more unpredictable than some pets. I think it should be fine, though." Belt snorted.

"That's reassuring," Pal managed. "I'll keep my distance, thanks."

Grug reached up and patted the macawnivore's shoulder. Chunky head-butted him to the ground, and unceremoniously dumped his cargo. The large bird and Thunk rolled on the ground, and the cat stalked off, tail lashing.

"Guess he was tired," Guy said, covering a grin as Grug sighed gustily and began to drag the kill the rest of the way to the fire.

Pal and Inda did their best to stay out of the way as the family prepared the meal. After a time, Guy brought them hefty slices of the meat on wooden slab plates.

"Um," Guy said, handing them their food, "You...may want to look away." He went back for his own plate, plus a smaller portion for Belt, and once he was nearly back to them again, he turned back and called, "Dinner's ready!"

The Croods launched themselves at the meal, and Inda and Pal stared in horrified fascination for a moment before taking their son's advice and turning their backs to the carnage.

"Are they like that at every meal?" Inda whispered.

Guy winced. "Yeah, pretty much. You get used to it. Sorta. I just try to stay out of the way and keep my eyes on my own food. You might want to eat fast, though. Just in case."

Pal and Inda looked at each other, and then dug into their plates with determination. Even so, before they were finished, Sandy appeared at Pal's elbow, growling. Guy reacted immediately, jumping up and pushing the baby away with his foot. "Hey, hey, back off," he told her firmly. "Don't let them get away with it," he told his parents as Sandy ran off. "You'll never be able to eat in peace if they think they can – Gran!" The old lady had slithered up beside him and was reaching over his arms for his plate. Guy shoved her away. "No. There's more over there, go get your own!" Belt hopped around, trying to stay out of the way as they struggled.

Gran snarled at him and Guy paled, but he kept pushing. "Go. Eep! Could you give me a hand here?"

Eep growled from where she was crouched over her own food, but in a second she had snarfed it down and she came running to Guy's aid. Gran growled at her, but Eep just snarled back, and chased the old woman back towards the fire, where they both tore off second helpings for themselves.

Guy sighed and shook his head. When he saw Pal and Inda staring at him, he gave a small shrug. Then he sat down and polished off his food as quickly as he could.

"Do you have trouble finding enough food for this many?" Pal asked, steadfastly _not_ looking behind him.

"Not so far," Guy answered, his face suddenly sober, as Belt crawled into his lap. "I think things around here are a little bit out of balance. A lot of birds and animals came over the mountains, running the same way we did. It'll probably be a while before nature straightens itself out. Right now, there's plenty of food, and everything is so disoriented that it's not that hard to catch, but it's bound to swing back the other way eventually. I'm afraid when that happens, things might get a bit harder." He absently scratched the sloth's head.

"Do you fish?" Pal asked thoughtfully, an idea taking shape in his mind.

"No," Guy admitted. "I remember some about fishing from before, but not much. I've had so much to do since we settled that I haven't had time to figure it out again."

"I could teach you," Pal offered eagerly. "I mean—if you want to. We'd have to make some different spears, and I don't really know what kind of fish—"

"I'd love to," Guy interrupted, his seriousness gone. "You just tell me what we need. We can start tomorrow. Uh—if you want to, I mean," he added, clearly trying to curb his enthusiasm.

"Yeah," Pal said, grinning. "Tomorrow, then." He glanced at his wife, whose plate sat, still mostly full, in her lap. "Inda, eat," he prompted gently, and she obediently put another piece in her mouth and chewed without any real enthusiasm.

When she had swallowed it she touched Guy's knee. "Guy," she said, keeping her soft voice even lower than usual. "Are you really happy here? With—" she glanced back.

"I really am," he said seriously, squeezing her hand. "I know they're not what you're used to, but they're really good people. They trusted me, and they took me in. They're—" he hesitated.

"They're family," Pal finished for him quietly.

Guy shifted uncomfortably. "Yeah."

Pal put a hand on his wife's shoulder and squeezed. Inda sighed, and picked at her plate some more. "We're glad you have them," Pal told Guy, trying to reassure him that he wasn't hurting their feelings. "Guy, you know your mother and I love you and we would have been there for you if we could, but I'm glad you've had somebody."

"And if they're family to you, then they're family to us too," Inda added firmly, although Pal was not sure whether it was Guy she was trying to convince, or herself.

Guy smiled at them both and got to his feet. "You guys finish eating. I'll make you a place to sleep." He reached down for Belt, and the little animal wrapped itself around Guy's waist as they walked off.

Pal finished his food – and sighed when he saw Inda tip her plate, dropping most of her meal to Sandy.

Guy led them to a pallet of skins and furs in one of the small copses of trees that grew around the cliff wall. "Not much for privacy," he apologized, "But it gives you some distance at least. The rest of us sleep over there," he pointed to a group of trees some distance away, where Inda had seen the family take him this morning.

"I hope you didn't rob your bed for us," Pal frowned, looking at the heap of skins. "We've slept on the ground plenty."

"So have I," Guy shrugged. "I kept enough to be comfortable. Eep gave me a few of hers. The others all just kind of sleep on each other, so they don't need much." He hesitated. "I'll—see you in the morning?"

"Of course," Inda said immediately, putting a hand on his arm. Guy smiled, and put his arms around her. "Good night, Mom," he said softly.

"Good night son," said Pal, as Guy passed out of the trees. For a moment the two parents stood watching him go. Eep joined him and they walked back to the fire together.

"Pal," Inda sighed, "A cavegirl?" She chewed her lip. "I'm sure she's perfectly nice, but—" Her tone said plainly that "perfectly nice" was not good enough for her son.

"I know," Pal said, tightening his arm around her. "But it won't do any good to try and talk him out of it now. He's been making his own decisions for a long time and you'll only make him angry." He grinned. "Much like a certain other mother who once tried to talk her son out of his choice of mate."

Inda smiled halfheartedly.

"Let's go to bed." Pal turned her towards the pallet. "There'll be plenty of time to worry over his prospects in the morning. You should rest."

* * *

_RhymesWithGrug – I really appreciated that you wrote such a thoughtful comment, so I wanted to address your concerns. I don't completely agree with you that Guy doesn't get angry – I DO agree that Guy doesn't hold a grudge at all, and that's part of why he gets over his anger so quickly in the last chapter. As soon as he gets a reasonable explanation, and understands that they DID look for him, he lets it go. As for why he got angry in the first place, he was upset. Anger is a natural part of the grieving process, and he's probably been through a lot as a result of not having his family. I thought it was reasonable for those feelings to come up again, especially as he's furiously trying to figure out how they could have survived. Finally, I love the serious Guy that we see in the tar pit and in the "The log ride is over. Drop the log." moment with Grug, I feel like that's a side of Guy we don't see much of, but he probably needed that serious side to survive, and I'm intrigued by it, so I love to explore it whenever I can. I totally respect it if you still disagree, but again, I loved that you were impacted enough by the story to leave the criticism, so I wanted to explain a little bit about why I did things that way. _


	4. Uncertain

_I wouldn't necessarily call this a sequel to my story Acceptance, but I do have Guy's background from that story in mind here__.__ I don't think it's super important for you to have read Acceptance, but it might provide context, so check it out if you are so inclined._

_On a completely unrelated note, I recently read and really enjoyed the Croods story "The Day the Darkness Got Its Name" from atippleofyourtears. It's in the crossovers so I didn't notice it at first, but I definitely recommend it. It's listed in my favorite stories if you don't feel like searching for it._

_Thanks Karts of Sugar Rush for the review! I'll see what I can do about working in the pets...but really, there's a lot of them, plus nine actual characters to deal with so...no promises, is what I'm saying! If I can keep track of Belt, Chunky, and Douglas, I'll be satisfied._

_Sorry to babble so much – on to the chapter._

* * *

Guy woke early the next morning, with the sky still pink overhead. He tried to lay still for a time without much success. Finally, he got up quietly, scooping up a still-snoozing Belt, and crept to the copse of trees where he'd left his parents. He peered under the branches, and there they were, still sleeping, curled together. One of Pal's arms circled his mate's waist protectively. Guy watched them for a moment, and then slipped away. It still didn't feel real. He wondered what they had thought of him, yesterday. He wondered what today would bring. Part of him wanted to wake them and find out, but he squashed that selfish thought immediately.

Eep was probably up. He'd find her instead. Sure enough, he found Eep's shoes at the base of the cliff and shaded his eyes with his hand to look up. She always went barefoot when she climbed, and she liked to watch the sunrise in the mornings. Guy could see her feet kicking off the edge of her ledge. Not wanting to call and wake everyone else, he put Belt down and pitched a rock up at the cliff wall. It didn't get anywhere near her, but the sound of it striking the cliff made her look down. He waved.

Eep waved back, and then slipped over the edge of the ledge to make her way down the cliff. When she was most of the way down, she backflipped off the wall and landed in the grass in front of him.

He grinned. "Show off."

She grinned back and sat down to put her shoes back on. "What's up?" she said.

"Nothing," he said, sitting down next to her. "I just woke up early." Belt grumbled from where he was curled up on the grass.

"Oh," she said, lounging back on her hands. "Well, it's a beautiful morning."

"Yeah," Guy said, looking up into sky. The pink was slowly giving way to clear blue. Guy felt restless, anxious to see how the day was going to turn out. He and the Croods had fallen into a comfortable routine here, and he wasn't sure how his rediscovered family fit into it. He was nervous, though he really couldn't put his finger on why. "Things are going to be weird for a while," he said.

"Weird how?" Eep asked, rolling onto her side to face him, propping her head up on her elbow. "Because of your family?"

Guy nodded. "When things change, there's always an adjustment period. Like when we met, or when we got here. It's always weird for a little while." He hesitated. "I might be spending a lot of time with them."

"So you're not going to be around," Eep said slowly. "That's what you're trying to tell me." She rolled her eyes. "Why didn't you just say so?"

Guy winced. "Sorry. Uh..."

"I get it," Eep said, pushing herself up and wrapping her arms around her knees. "You need some time. It's okay."

"Okay," he said, relaxing. "But you'll tell me if it's not, right?"

"Yeah," she said, nudging his shoulder with hers. She paused, and he looked at her.

"Eep?"

"There is one thing," she said, uncharacteristically quiet.

"Yeah?" Guy waited while she worked up her nerve.

"Well, I get that you missed them and you're going to want to spend time with them but – you're not going to leave, are you?" she asked, looking at the ground.

"What?" Guy's eyes widened.

Eep plucked at the blades of grass around her feet. "They might not want to stay here. If they don't, you'd want to go with them, wouldn't you?"

He opened his mouth and shut it again. He felt like an idiot that she had seen it before he had, but of course there was a risk. Hadn't he told her himself that his dad hadn't ever really taken to village life? Pal loved to explore, and he'd said yesterday they had been traveling since they got to Tomorrow. It made sense that he would want to keep going. And they wouldn't want to just leave him behind—would they?

His throat tightened. He'd just found them again, and the thought of them leaving was painful, but...He looked away from Eep, back over the valley.

"I hadn't thought about it," Guy said truthfully. It was not the answer she wanted, he knew, but he was careful with his promises – especially with her.

Somehow everything had become so complicated since he'd stopped having to run for his life every day.

Eep watched him for a moment, and then stood up. "Want to go for a run?"

Guy looked up at her, surprised.

"Come on," she grinned. "I'll give you a head start."

Guy chuckled. "What's the point? You'll leave me behind anyway."

"Probably," she agreed cheerfully, bouncing on her toes. "Especially if you don't get up and move."

She was off before Guy could form a reply, pelting at full speed towards the mouth of the valley.

"So much for a head start," Guy muttered, standing up. Leaving Belt asleep on the grass, he set off at a fast jog. There was no point in trying to catch Eep, and he'd just exhaust himself if he tried. He thought he knew where she was headed, anyway. He jogged through the jungle on their well-worn path towards the beach. Eep was waiting for him, and they turned down the beach together. Eep kept pace with him for a few minutes before charging off ahead again. Guy settled into the ground-devouring lope he'd perfected over the years, content to catch up with her whenever she got tired – or whenever she decided to stop running. She really had more endurance than was fair for someone running at that speed, he'd often noticed.

As he settled into the familiar rhythm, focusing on the movement of his feet, the restlessness he'd felt since waking started to slacken, the anxiety twisting his chest to loosen. It really was a nice day, the morning breezy and cool but not too windy, the sun shining on the blue-green water. He let his worry go and settled into the run.

Once he could have kept this pace up for hours, but after months of relatively comfortable living where he rarely had to travel any great distance, he found that it wasn't as easy as it had been - especially on the soft sand under him. Running in this stuff was _work_.

Not that Eep seemed to notice. By the time she stopped and turned to wait for him, it was really pride more than anything else that was keeping him going. As he caught up to her, he could see the sheen of sweat on her face and shoulders, but that was the only sign of her exertion. It really was just wrong, he thought, bending over to rest his hands on his knees.

"Feel better?" she asked.

"Yeah," he gasped, trying to get enough air in his lungs to speak clearly. "I do, actually." He grinned at her. "Thanks."

"Don't thank me yet," she laughed. How did she have enough breath to laugh_? Unfair, unfair, unfair_. "We still have to go back."

"Yeah, well, we can take our time with that one," he said, managing to stand up straight.

"You always take your time," she grinned, and when he made a face at her, Eep stepped close and pressed a kiss to his lips.

When she moved back, he moved with her, cupping her face and catching her mouth again. She leaned into him, her lips parting under his as his other arm circled her back. Dark and light, how long had it been since he last kissed her? It felt like forever. He didn't risk it often, with Grug always lurking around where he was least expected.

But the overprotective caveman was not here and Guy was so hungry for this. Life was so much simpler when it was just the two of them, just her small hands on his chest and her muscled back under his splayed fingers and the taste of salt on her mouth.

He was still out of breath and his need for air drove them apart sooner than he would have liked, but he couldn't help feeling smug that, as he rested his forehead against hers and desperately tried to pull in enough air to keep from passing out, she was finally panting too.

"Promise me you won't go without telling me," she said softly.

He was careful with his promises, but he didn't have to hesitate with this one. "I promise." There was so much more he wanted to say, but he didn't trust himself, not with her body pressed against him and the taste of her still on his lips.

They both looked up as the sound of a shell horn rang out in two short blasts. "Guess the family's up," Guy sighed, releasing Eep. She made a face, and then took out her own shell and sounded two short calls back.

They cut through the jungle to get back to the valley, and Eep stayed beside him the whole way, her hand in his whenever the terrain allowed it.

Belt cooed happily as they reentered the valley, and ambled over to Guy. "Hey, sleepyhead," Guy laughed, picking him up. Belt blew a raspberry and arranged himself around Guy's waist.

"There you are," Grug came towards them, his face stormy. "Where have you been?"

"Running," Eep said calmly, her eyes narrowed slightly. Guy flinched and tried not to look guilty as Grug leaned toward him suddenly, sniffing.

"It's a nice day," Guy ventured. Grug growled. Guy hated this part; he knew it was all bluster, but his finely honed survival instincts still screamed "DANGER, DANGER" at him every time Grug towered over him like this.

Suddenly Guy felt a hand on his arm, pulling him back, and Pal stepped between Guy and the caveman, glaring up at Grug. _Oh, this is bad_, Guy thought, seeing Grug's eyebrows lower into a genuine scowl.

"Uh, uh," Guy stammered, grabbing his father's arm. "Dad, it's okay."

Pal didn't move, staring down the caveman, or rather, staring up at him, since Grug was easily twice the nomad's size. For a moment the two fathers glared in tense silence, and then Grug growled, and hopped around them both, hooking an arm around Eep and moving her away.

"Hey!" she scowled, as Grug shoved her, but Guy shook his head at her, and she pouted and growled but didn't put up a fight as her father frog-marched her away.

"You shouldn't have done that," Guy sighed, putting a hand over his face. "I can handle him. He wasn't going to hurt me."

"Hmph," was all Pal said, distaste evident on his face.

"He's not that bad," Guy insisted. "Just—protective."

"Protective," Pal said flatly, folding his arms.

Inda came running up to them, putting both hands on Guy's arm. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, Mom," Guy said. "It was no big deal."

"I thought you said you were like family to these people," Inda said, her face tense. "That didn't look like the way you treat family to me."

"It's—a little more complicated than that," Guy muttered, feeling his face heat. "It's fine, he won't actually hurt me." Probably. If only because Eep would never forgive him.

Inda glanced back over her shoulder. "Guy, if you're not happy here—"

"Stop." Guy forced a smile, but there was no real humor in his expression. "I know what it feels like to be an outsider. That's not what this is. He's just a dad who doesn't want his little girl to grow up." Guy folded his arms. "It's not like the nomad tribes were any better. I've been chased out of camps just for talking to women – not even girls my age, for talking to married women older than you!" He shrugged. "I think I prefer Grug's growling to some of the things they said."

Inda looked stricken, and Guy bit his tongue. He hadn't meant to upset her. He put his arm around her shoulders. "Mom, really, it's okay." Guy looked at Pal. "Just let me handle it. We've got a system," he grinned. "He growls at me, I look scared for a few minutes, he makes a big show about pushing Eep away, and five minutes later everything's back to normal. I can't say I enjoy it, but I'm used to it."

Inda still looked unhappy. "I just think you deserve better than that."

That caught Guy off guard. "I—" he smiled. "Thanks, Mom. I don't think anybody's ever said that to me before."

Indignation flared in Inda's eyes, followed by sorrow, and she put her arms around him. A quiet sob shook her.

"Mom?" he said, and turned round eyes on his father.

"Oookay, let's not start that," Pal said gently, putting a hand on Inda's shoulder. "You'll just tire yourself out. Guy and I have work to do, why don't you go get a little more rest?"

Inda straightened and wiped her eyes, and moved off back towards the fire.

"I didn't mean to make her unhappy," Guy said, watching her go.

"It's not your fault," Pal said. "She's just upset that we couldn't be there for you. So am I," he admitted, a lopsided smile on his face, "But there's nothing we can do about it now." He cleared his throat. "So. Fishing spears?"

"Yeah. Yeah!" Guy said, brightening. "Come on, I want to show you something."

Guy stopped by the fire for a torch and then led his father to a crevice in the cliff walls. "There're a few caves in this valley," he explained. "We use most of them for storage." He slipped through the crack into the short tunnel beyond, Pal trailing behind him. After a few paces, the tunnel opened up into a small cavern barely tall enough for them to walk without crouching.

"Okay, here we go," Guy said excitedly, holding up his torch. "Ah, let's see, we've got horns over here, bones over there, plenty of dried sinew - I think I have some already made into cords over here somewhere, and oh, there's a stack of wood by the entrance that I was keeping for spears. Take whatever you need," he said, picking his way through the neat piles arranged in the little cave.

"Wow," Pal said, staring around. "You've been busy."

Guy shifted, grinning a little. This was riches, as far as he was concerned, and he was proud of his little cache. He would never lack for raw materials again if he could help it.

As Pal sorted through the items, a thought occurred to Guy. He handed his torch to Belt and put him on the floor, and then bent over the small pile of bones. Guy picked up one or two, examined them, and put them back. When he found what he was looking for, he slipped it into the feathered pouch on his hip.

"Tools?" Pal said, looking up.

"I've got my knife," Guy said, walking over to the far end of the little cave and crouching down by a small ledge. "More over here if we need them. Or if these won't work, tell me what we need and I'll make it."

Pal came and picked through the blades, picking up a couple of ax heads and testing their weight. "Okay, this should do it," he said, backing out to where he could stand straight. Guy helped him gather up the items he had picked out, and then went back out into the sun. Guy tossed his torch into the fire, and directed Pal to the corner of the valley where he usually worked. "Watch your step," Guy said, kicking aside a sharp chip of rock left over from making his flint tools. "I try to keep it cleaned up, but the flakes can be hard to find in the grass. That's why I mostly only work over here." He glanced at his father's bare feet. "I should make you some shoes," he said thoughtfully.

"What's that?" Pal asked, jerking his chin towards a ring of stones off to their left.

Guy grinned. "That's my thinking circle. I don't know if you noticed, but the family can be a little - uh...there. All the time. Loudly. That little circle has saved my sanity. Nobody's allowed allowed to cross the stones or talk to me while I'm in them." He shrugged. "It mostly works. Except for Grug; every once in a while he bugs me just to prove he can, but he never stays for long, so I don't really mind. So." He threw himself on the grass. "Show me what to do."

Pal grinned, and took a seat across from him, picking up a piece of antler from their piles of supplies. He explained to Guy what they were going to do, and started working a piece of antler. Guy watched him for a few minutes, then began working on his own.

"You know, your mother never gave up hope that you'd survived," Pal commented, glancing at Guy.

Guy smiled.

Pal didn't. "I did. I was sure you were dead. I thought, even when we made you run away, there was no chance...then when we found your pack, I was sure. I gave up on you entirely."

Guy's smile faded. He wasn't really sure what to think about that.

"Clearly I underestimated you," Pal said, finally beginning to smile. "And it looks like I owe you an apology. Not only did you live, but you grew up, and became a man. I'm proud of you, son."

Guy hadn't known how much he wanted to hear that. He swallowed hard. "Thanks, Dad."

"I think it's actually been a little tough on your mom, seeing you so grow up. She still thinks of you as her little boy, who couldn't make it without her, and instead we find you here, healthy and happy, helping to lead a family and courting a mate."

Guy flushed. He hadn't thought of his relationship with Eep in quite those terms before...but that was what he was doing, wasn't it? He fixed his eyes on the piece of antler in his hands.

"You are still just courting, right?" Pal asked him in a lowered voice, glancing at him sidelong, and Guy's knife slipped off the antler with a jerk.

Guy's face burned but he tried to keep his tone light. "Uh, you remember that big guy who was so welcoming just now? Also his big pet with the giant claws and teeth?"

"Very wise, son," Pal looked like he was trying not to laugh. Then he cleared his throat and spoke in a rush. "Look, Guy, there's a lot of talks we probably should have had while you were growing up that we never got the chance to have, and I know you've probably figured a lot of it out on your own by now, but—I'm just saying, if you have questions—"

Guy's mouth dropped open. "Dad."

"I'm just saying, sometimes stories men swap about the things that did or didn't go on inside their tents aren't the most accurate source of information," Pal continued. "Especially young men. They tend to—exaggerate. So before you decide to—uh—"

"Dad!" Guy covered his face with his hands.

"You should just make sure you have your facts straight," Pal finished inexorably, suddenly extremely focused on his own work.

"Thanks," Guy said dryly. "I'll, uh...keep that in mind." He cleared his throat, glancing around to make sure no one else was in hearing range. He didn't think so, although Gran was a little too close for comfort, and she looked like she was laughing at something.

Better her than—

"What's that?" Guy glanced up to see Eep examining his father's work – from rather close range. She was practically in Pal's lap. She grabbed his hand and pulled it to a better angle for her to see.

"Eep," Guy said, trying not to laugh, both at Eep's enthusiasm and Pal's disconcerted expression as he leaned away from her. "Remember our talk about personal space?"

Eep immediately let go of Pal and retreated a few steps. "Oh. Sorry. So what is it?"

"It's part of a fishing spear," Pal told her, showing her the notched barbs he was working into the piece of antler.

"Why can't you just use a regular spear?" Eep wanted to know, eyes still on the piece.

"You could," Pal said, going back to work, "But these work much better. Regular spears are too heavy and not fast enough, and the barbs on these keep the fish from slipping off and getting away."

"Ohhhh," Eep said. "But it's so short."

"This is just the end," Pal told her—a little stiffly, Guy thought. The boy frowned a little, and then smiled to himself as an idea took shape in his mind. When they'd first arrived, Eep had spent hours on the rocks near the beach, giggling and staring at the fish. She'd tried to catch a few by hand, but hadn't had much luck.

"Eep, can you tell us what kind of fish you've seen?" He nodded at the cliff wall next to him. "Maybe draw a few?"

Eep looked skeptical. "I don't paint as well as my dad does."

"I know, but it doesn't have to be perfect. I just want Dad to know what's out there."

Pal was the one looking skeptical now, but Guy just smiled to himself.

"Okay," Eep said, scooping a handful of dirt and stepping to the wall.

Guy went back to working on his piece of antler, grinning, as she sketched out several varieties of fish, talking the whole time. He kept one eye on his father, whose expression went from skeptical to incredulous to impressed as Eep talked. She was right, her drawings weren't great, but her memory for detail was excellent, and her descriptions more than made up for her lack of artistic expertise. There was only so much one could do with dirt on stone, anyway. When Pal questioned her, she was able to tell him where she had seen which fish and at what time of day. By the time Ugga called her away, Guy couldn't keep the smile off his face. He glanced up at Pal, quirking an eyebrow.

"She's got a good eye," Pal said, a little gruffly, and it was so like one of Grug's grudging compliments that Guy almost laughed.

"Yeah," was all Guy said. "She's full of surprises."

* * *

_This type of story is pretty far out of my comfort zone, so it's nice to have feedback. Please leave me a review if you enjoyed it (or if you didn't, that's okay too). I have to say I have mad respect for the movie writers – it's NOT easy to keep track of so many characters, which is why it's easier to split them off into small groups. Ah well, it's good to stretch yourself, right? Right. Ahem. I'm also not planning for this story to be quite as minute-by-minute as it's been so far. Sorry about that._


	5. Unlikely

_Huge, huge thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! Space Between Us, Karts of Sugar Rush, MiyamotoUsagiFan, Maeve Howard, and Kai. You have NO idea just how much I needed that encouragement! MiyamotoUsagiFan gets a special thank you – I had to laugh when I read your review because the beginning of this chapter was already written, but your nudge on the other subject helped get my thinking going on part of this chapter, so thanks for that. _

_I so appreciate everyone giving this story a chance! I'm sorry this update took so long. It may be more than a week before the next update, just because of real life stuff next week (including my birthday and any associated shenanigans). The good news is, while I was trying to work this chapter I ended up writing a lot of scenes for later in the story, so I'm hopeful future chapters will come a little more quickly._

* * *

Grug watched Pal and Guy chatting away and fumed.

Grug didn't think of himself as the type to be grouchy. Really, on a normal day, he was pretty easygoing.

The problem was he hadn't had a normal day since Eep had, seemingly overnight, stopped being his adoring little girl and turned into a monster of teenage drama and frustration.

He'd never done all that well with change. He'd been through several changes in his life and hadn't handled any of them well. The day when his parents kicked him out to find a cave of his own, the day he brought Ugga to live with him, the day he brought Ugga's mother to live with him (ugh), the births of his children, and of course – the destruction of their cave and subsequent obliteration of just about everything he considered "normal" in the world.

And now here he was, just finally starting to come to terms with his new life, and another change had to show up on his beach, and now he was just a great big mess of _feelings_ again and somehow it always ended up with him being the bad guy.

Life was supposed to be simple. Hunt, kill, eat, hide, survive. And then Guy had shown up with all his weird ideas and changed everything. And now he'd finally almost sort of gotten used to the kid, and here the mom and dad who abandoned him all those years ago decided to show up and make everything weird again. It wasn't fair! Guy was as good as _his_ son now, and they didn't just get to swoop in and mess that up when Grug had been working so hard to come to terms with it himself.

So he growled at the kid a little bit, that was his _job _as Eep's _father_. A real father would understand that.

But Pal hadn't been a father to Guy for years, so of course he didn't get it. He had failed his family all those years ago. It had been Pal's job to keep them safe, even more so because he had taken such a thin, flimsy mate who really couldn't help him. But Pal hadn't protected his family, hadn't protected Guy, and now there he was, sitting with Guy, having an amiable conversation and enjoying the reward of a father who raised a good son, and he hadn't earned any of it.

It really pissed Grug off.

Eep was also watching the father and son from where she lay flat on her stomach on her favorite ledge, her face propped in her hands and her feet kicking in the air. She sighed and tried not to feel sorry for herself. It was stupid to be unhappy just because Guy wanted to spend time with his parents. She was perfectly able to entertain herself without him.

She decided to go on a solo hunt and see what she could scare up. She'd never been allowed to hunt alone before they came here, but she had a lot more freedom under her father's new, more relaxed policies.

Eep suspected this had less to do with her father relaxing than it did with the fact that it was a lot harder for him to stop her now. If she got bored enough, she would do what she wanted anyway, and take whatever punishment he dished out when she got home. Grug had quickly seen the wisest course and now she was allowed to go where and when she wanted, within certain boundaries, and provided she always carried a shell with her.

Eep swung off the ledge, scurrying down the cliff face, and bounded over to take a spear from the cache they kept in one of the supply caves. Then she stopped by her own sleeping place to pick up the knife Guy had made her. It hung on a long strap that she wore across her body.

"Where are you going?" Grug demanded as she passed him. Eep rolled her eyes skyward but turned to face him. "We just ate yesterday," Grug said, looking at her spear.

"I'm boooored," Eep moaned. "Besides, nobody in this family will complain about a little extra food."

"You can say that again," Gran called from her seat, and then yelped as Douglas bounded right over her in pursuit of the shell Thunk had just thrown.

"Thunk, watch it with that thing," Grug called.

"Sorry!" Thunk yelled back, running after Douglas. Grug sighed and turned back to Eep.

"Maybe you should see if Guy wants to go with you," Grug said, looking over his shoulder to where Guy was having some kind of animated discussion with Pal that involved a lot of arm-waving and sound effects. Grug scowled.

Eep raised an eyebrow at her father. That was a weird suggestion, coming from him. "He said he would be busy," she replied, and couldn't resist adding spitefully, "And with the way you get in his face every time we go anywhere together—"

"Oh, don't start," Grug interrupted, folding his arms. "I was young once too, you know, and I still remember what it was like. He needs all the motivation I can give him to keep his hands to himself. It's my job to get in his face."

Eep thought Guy kept his hands entirely too much to himself, but didn't bother to say so. "If you're so worried about his motivations, then why tell me to take him with me at all?" Eep scowled. "You're being weird."

Grug dragged a hand down his face. "Whatever, just go. Take your shell and be back before dark. And make sure you answer if I call for you to check in."

Eep rolled her eyes. "Yes, Dad."

Grug sighed. "Come here."

Eep put her spear down and hugged her father tightly.

"I love you," he said, folding his big arms around her.

"I love you too." Eep squeezed harder.

"Oof," Grug grunted, putting her down. "All right, get going. Good luck."

"Bye," Eep said, already running for the valley entrance.

In the jungle, she wove, leapt, and bounded through the trees with ease, choosing her footing and calculating the force of her jumps without consciously thinking about any of it. Her mind stayed on the morning's conversation with Guy.

Before Tomorrow, Eep had never given much thought to taking a mate. The neighboring families all had girls, except for the Horks, whose son had been only an infant. That had really been fine with Eep, because trading one cave for another hadn't exactly been her idea of freedom. She was far better off, to her mind, staying with her father, who truly loved her, than with some stranger who might be less tolerant of her loose interpretation of the rules.

As he had with so many things, Guy had completely changed her way of thinking on this subject. She couldn't believe that a life with him would be restrictive or boring. If there was ever going to be a man she could live with, it was Guy, and there was no question in her mind what she wanted. Life without him would be bearable, but bearable wasn't good enough for her anymore.

The problem was, she wasn't sure what he wanted. He cared about her, but something – something more than fear of her father – was holding him back, and she had no idea what it was.

And now, with his family here...She had learned a lot about him over the past six moons. She knew he had been terribly lonely in his old wandering life, but she also knew that part of him had loved the adventure of it, the joy of discovery and the thrill of keeping himself alive by wit and skill. If he could have that again without the loneliness, would he take that chance?

He had only rarely spoken of his family to her. That hurt ran so deep that he could hardly bear to touch it. If leaving gave him the chance to have them back again...

_Come with me._

She had long ago promised herself that if he ever spoke those words to her again, she wouldn't hesitate. She loved her family, but Guy was her future. She wouldn't miss out on it, or him, out of fear again. If he asked her, she would go with him.

If he asked.

The wind shifted, bringing a new scent to her nose. She smiled, gladly letting her worries slip away as she set her mind on tracking prey.

Inda sat listlessly at the fireside, watching her mate and son talk as if they had never been parted. Not for the first time, she wished a little of Pal's stoicism had rubbed off on her over the years.

She started as she felt a heavy hand come down on her shoulder and squeeze. She looked up into Ugga's smile. "It's hard, isn't it? I can't imagine what you must be going through."

Inda tried to muster a smile back. "I just feel like I've missed so much. He's so grown up." She blinked back sudden tears. "He was so small, when we—lost each other. I see him now and I wonder what he had to go through to get here, and how much of it we could have prevented."

"Sandy, stop it. Come here," Ugga veered off, and grabbed her youngest child. She came back, and to Inda's disconcerted surprise, sat on the small struggling child. Sandy growled.

"He saved all our lives," the cavewoman continued, apparently oblivious to the jiggling and jostling of her wriggling baby-turned-seat. "More than once. Whatever he went through, it made him into a man you should be very proud of." She planted a fist on Sandy's head to prevent an escape.

"Of course," Inda said faintly, but it was hard to feel what she ought. Not that she wasn't proud of Guy, of course she was, but she knew he had suffered because she wasn't there for him, and somehow that was all she could think about. She didn't know how she could ever make up for not being there.

The cavewoman seemed to hesitate for a moment, and then she put her hand on Inda's shoulder again. Inda looked up, surprised by the earnest expression on Ugga's face. "Guy's part of our family now," Ugga said, "An important part. So I'm going to say this even though it may not really be my place. You can't think about this as your second chance. It's not. Things can't be the way they were before. You need to let all of that go, and just figure out where you can fit into his life the way it is now." Ugga smiled sympathetically as Inda stared at her, slightly agape. "That would be true even if you hadn't been separated. Our kids are growing up. They don't need us to be the same moms we were when they were babies. It's not easy, and it's harder for some of us than others." She indicated her mate, sitting off by himself scowling, with a nod and a raised eyebrow. "But letting them grow up and figuring out how to be there for them anyway is part of being a parent." She held Inda's gaze for a moment, and then sat back with a sigh.

"I...hadn't thought about it like that," Inda said, looking back over to Pal and Guy. After a moment, she asked quietly, "What's he like?"

"Sweet. Kind. Unpredictable. Energetic." Ugga smiled. "Anxious to please. You should just—go spend time with him. Even if you don't say anything, he'll be happy to have you there."

Inda's eyes drifted over to the two men again, and then she looked back at Ugga with a smile. "Maybe I will." She touched the cavewoman's hand shyly. "Thank you."

Guy was in the middle of a story as she approached, talking with his hands as much as his mouth. "So then the bird grabs the puppet, and of course I'm attached to it, and it flings me through the air like it's no big deal." Guy's hand traced an arc through the air, and he made a whistling noise followed by a splat. "And luckily Grug catches me, but Eep's left standing there all alone with this giant snarling turkeyfish and I'm thinking this is all about to end really, really badly." His hand went to his forehead. "But then we turn around and there's Eep, cool as mountain water, staying too inches ahead of the thing, bouncing off trees and flipping around, and before either of us could do anything, she had it chasing her back towards the trap. And then Grug panics and goes to rescue her, and he's heading right towards the snare. So Eep leaps over the thing and tackles him, and the turkeyfish finally steps in the loop, and bam! Roast turkeyfish for dinner." Guy picked up his knife and antler and went back to work, though he put them back down again as she drew near. The same smile of pleasure touched with relief spread over both his face and his father's. It was almost funny.

"Do you mind if I sit with you?" Inda asked, trying to smile.

"Yeah! Of course you can," Guy said, scrambling up before she could stop him. "Hang on, I'll get you something to sit on."

"I don't need anything," she objected. "I'm fine on the ground with you."

"We're wearing pants," Guy grinned, indicating her bare legs. Like Eep and Ugga, she wore a dress of skins that left her legs bare. "There's flint shards all over here, I don't want you to get hurt. Just stay there for a minute, I'll be right back."

He ran and got a skin from his pallet and put it over the grass for her, a little off to one side where she wouldn't be hit by any chips from their carving.

"Watch your step," he cautioned, as he led her to it. "Shoes," he muttered to himself, going back to his own seat. He went back to his carving, talking quietly to himself.

Pal kept his head down, but she could see the corner of his mouth quirked up from where she sat. That was good. She was glad he was happy. "I saw you talking to Ugga. How was your chat?" he asked.

"It was...nice," Inda said, looking back towards the fire. "She's nice."

"I'm glad," Guy said, looking up. "She's been good to me. I know they're not what you're used to, but they're not like other cavies." He looked thoughtful. "Or, maybe they are, and none of our kind ever got close enough to find out before."

"Hmm," Pal said noncommittally. "Could be either. They're so territorial, it's hard to get one to stop trying to kill you long enough to talk."

"Even when they're scary, there's always a reason for it," Guy defended his new family. "Just like when you meet a new tribe, you have to learn the rules all over again. It's just a different way of doing things. I promise, they're not going to just haul off and get violent for no reason." He made a face. "Except maybe at meals. I can't make any guarantees on that one."

"I've known some nomads who weren't all that civilized about meals either, so I can't really hold that against them," Pal smiled.

"Just give them a chance," Guy said, turning pleading eyes on his mother. "You'll really like them once you get to know them. I know you will."

Inda smiled. "Of course. I'll—" Her eyes flicked to Grug as he stalked by, scowling. "Try," she finished.

There was a cooing sound, and Guy's little sloth companion unwound himself from the boy's waist, turning to blink large green eyes at her. Inda smiled. "Hello."

"Ooooh," Belt purred.

Inda held out her hand to him, and Belt considered her for a moment before slipping down and waddling over to her on his long arms. He sniffed her hand and submitted to having his head scratched with a contented sigh. After a moment, he pulled himself into her lap with a flop. He was surprisingly warm. Inda giggled and stroked him. She worked her fingers under his belly and scratched. Belt flopped bonelessly over and his eyes half-closed.

"You've found his weakness now," Guy laughed. "He won't move for hours."

Belt blew a raspberry, and Inda laughed. Pal's head snapped up and his quick grin flashed at her. Inda smiled back warmly at her mate, but she felt a pang at his surprise. Had it really been that long since she'd last laughed?

"Where did you find this little one?" she asked Guy. "I've never seen anything like him."

"Neither have I," Guy admitted. "He was just a baby. His mother was dead when I found him. I think maybe they lived high up in the trees, and something happened to her and she fell. Belt was clinging onto her. When I picked him up, he held onto me instead. He was cute, and I was lonely, so..." he shrugged. "I took him with me. I didn't think he would make it without his mom, but he did."

"I think I've heard of creatures that look like him," Pal said, tapping his blade on his knee thoughtfully. "But they were much, much bigger, and they walked on the land."

"Well, I think you're the perfect size," Inda told Belt. He churred back and patted her arm.

Guy smiled. "Don't let it go to your head," he told Belt. Belt made a face at him. Guy made a face back.

"Done," Guy announced, holding up the length of antler he'd been working. It now sported a row of barbs all down the length.

Pal took it from him and looked over it. "This is—good. Really good," Pal said, sounding surprised. Guy grinned widely.

Pal tossed Guy another piece of antler. "You'll need three of those," he said, going back to his own work, but Inda could see the smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

She smiled too. Proud, indeed. She lounged on her side, still scratching Belt, and after a while, fell asleep.

Pal was glad to see her drift off. He knew she hadn't slept well, and he worried about her.

Guy's knife stilled. "Is she...all right?" he asked, looking at his father. "She seems...I don't know, different."

"Different how?" asked Pal cautiously, darting a sharp glance at his son.

Guy frowned. "I don't know. Sad, I guess. Like she's worried all the time. Was she always like that, and I was just too small to remember?"

"No," Pal said quietly. He was silent for a moment, considering how to answer. "She gets like that sometimes," he said finally. "She...thinks too much, and she gets caught up in her own mind and..." he shrugged. "She hasn't really been the same since—" he stopped, and they both looked away from each other.

"Dad?" Guy said softly.

Pal looked up.

"How did you get out of the tar?" Guy asked, meeting his eyes. "You didn't really say before."

Pal took a deep breath and blew it out slowly, looking at his hands.

Eep returned late in the afternoon, her kill slung over her shoulders. It wasn't very big, but the hunt had served its purpose. Her mood was much better as she entered the valley.

She looked automatically towards the spot where she had left Guy, and saw him still sitting there. She frowned. Pal was leaned over, gripping Guy's shoulder, and speaking earnestly to him. It was hard to tell from this distance, but Guy looked upset. Eep changed direction, heading their way.

Pal broke off whatever he was saying as she got close. "Hey," Eep said, trying to sound normal, while her eyes fixed on Guy. He was definitely pale.

"Hey," he said quickly, looking up. "Um, welcome back. Do you, uh—need a hand?"

She cocked her head at him. She didn't, but— "Sure. If you're not busy."

"No, I think I need a break," he said, a little too quickly, getting to his feet. He looked at his father. "We'll pick up tomorrow?"

Pal nodded silently, and Guy walked off with Eep towards the fire.

"What's the matter?" she asked, keeping her voice low.

"I'll tell you later," Guy replied, matching her tone. "I—need some time."

"I don't really need help if you would rather—"

"It's fine," Guy said quickly. "It'll keep my mind off—things."

"Okay," Eep said. Her eyes slid back to where Pal was helping Inda to her feet. "It didn't look like your mom ate much last night. Maybe we should save her some of this."

"It's your kill," Guy said, looking at her.

Eep smiled at him. "I know, but I don't really need it that badly. I just wanted something to do. We can probably split this between Gran, Sandy, and your family."

Guy took her hand. "Thanks, Eep."

They skinned the creature and put it on to cook. Eep sat by, mostly watching Guy as he fiddled with it. After a while, he finally seemed to admit that there was nothing left to do but wait. He sat down cross-legged next to her and took something out of his pouch.

"What are you making now?" she asked as he drew his knife.

"Something for my mom," he said, with a small smile. "I'll tell you when it's done. If it works," he added.

Eep pouted. "You're sure not telling me a lot tonight."

Guy let out a small huff of laughter. "Sorry. Later, I promise." His hands stilled for a moment, and he sighed.

Eep put her hand on his arm. "Are you sure?"

He nodded, and went back to his carving, not saying much else until the food was ready. Eep was soon busy keeping her prowling family members at bay. She watched out of the corner of her eye as Guy carved up the meat. When he was done, she stepped aside and let Thunk, Gran, and Sandy fight it out for the rest. When she looked for Guy again, he seemed to be arguing with his father.

After years of living in the close quarters of their cave, the Croods were all very adept at ignoring conversations they were not supposed to hear – all except Eep, whose curiosity often overrode politeness. She wandered a little closer without seeming too.

"We don't need to take her food," Pal was saying quietly.

"It's a gift," Guy replied. "She's trying to be nice. Take it, please. You'll hurt her feelings if you say no." When Pal hesitated, Guy added, "Mom's too skinny anyways."

That seemed to resolve the question. Pal took the plate of food and sat down with Inda.

Eep watched Guy as the others ate, and barely paid attention to her father's story afterward, but the normally talkative young man said next to nothing. As the Croods got up and shuffled off to go to bed, Eep was glad to see Guy's eyes turn to her. Sitting up together for a few minutes after the family went to bed had become something of a ritual for them. Maybe he would talk to her now.

"Hey," she said, sitting down next to him, her shoulder just brushing his.

"Hey," he smiled at her, and then glanced up. Pal and Inda were still sitting nearby. Eep fought down a growl. This was their time, and it was never very long before her father called her to bed.

Pal glanced over at them, and then looked again, harder. Something must have suggested to him that they were intruding, because he took his mate by the elbow. "Good night, kids," he said as he got up and steered Inda away.

"How are you doing?" Eep asked Guy when his parents were out of earshot.

"I don't really know," he admitted. "It's been a weird couple of days."

Eep smiled, moving a little closer. "Definitely not the normal routine," she said. She cocked her head, looking into his face. "So are you ready to tell me what's bothering you?"

He took a slow breath. "I asked my Dad again—about how they got away," he said, softly, his eyes focused on the bit of bone he was still carving.

"You never really told me what happened to them," Eep prompted.

"I don't like to think about it," Guy sighed. "Neither does Dad, actually, it was work to get the story out of him. Anyway, the details aren't important. There was a tar pit and an earthquake and—" He shook his head. "Dad had been carrying me on his shoulders, and when we fell he managed to keep me mostly out of the tar. One of the few times when not being very big actually worked in my favor – he was able to toss me to solid ground. I was a little sticky but at least I was free." He sighed. "I tried so hard to get them out. Everything they did just mired them in deeper, and I was too small to be able to do much to help. Then I got this idea to rig up some vines and a pulley – you know, like the one I made your Dad for the big snapshot boulder," he glanced at her and she nodded. "It wasn't as good, it didn't work as well, because it was the first one I'd ever made and I was in a hurry. But I thought maybe it would be enough to let Dad pull himself out."

He was quiet for a moment. Eep stroked his arm soothingly. The muscles under her fingertips were tight and tense.

"I could see it in his eyes when he gave up," Guy went on. "I begged him not to, but he was just too tired, and too pinned in the tar. He couldn't get his weight into it to help him. He couldn't get even my mom out, let alone himself. I tried to help, but I just wasn't heavy enough to make a difference. He… yelled at me, made me run away. Dad told me to go and not to look back. And I did." He put his carving aside and drew his knees up to his chest, folding his arms around them. Belt slid down off his perch on the rock above them to press into Guy's side.

"So what happened?" Eep asked softly.

"It worked," he said, barely audible. "It actually worked. After I left, a herd of giraphants wandered close to the tar pit. Dad managed to get a loop of vines around one of them and then panic the herd. It pulled him up and out of the tar. Hurt him a little bit when he couldn't get the line off fast enough, but it got him out, and once he was out, he was able to get Mom out." He put his face in his hands. "It worked," he repeated, in that same quiet voice.

"So...your idea saved them," Eep said gently.

He nodded mutely. Eep reached over and pulled his hands away. She cupped his face in her hand and made him look at her. "You're upset because you think you should have stayed."

The pain in his eyes tugged at her heart. "I quit. I gave up," he whispered. "I don't—I never give up. But I did that day." He pulled his face out of her hands and looked away.

"Dad said there's no way to know what would have happened if I'd stayed," he continued. "He said that...maybe the herd wouldn't have come so close, or maybe some predator would have found us first...or..." Guy swallowed hard, and then brought his own hand up to lightly stroke her cheek. "He said, we'll never know what would have happened, and whether it would have been better or worse, so we should just be glad to be where we are, and not question it too much. That we're lucky to have each other now, at least."

Eep turned her face into his touch. "You know, if you hadn't left them, I would probably be dead," she whispered, not meeting his eyes.

She felt his intake of breath and continued. "The only reason we weren't in the cave when it was destroyed was because I left to follow your fire," she said, ashamed that her own voice was trembling. "Your being there, at that exact place and time, saved all our lives." She tried to smile, covering his hand with hers and turning her eyes back up to him. "So I think your dad's pretty smart."

Guy's thumb brushed over her lower lip. "Yeah," he said thickly, staring at her mouth. "I guess he is." He dragged his gaze back up to her eyes, and cleared his throat. Eep's heart beat a little faster as she waited for him to form whatever it was he wanted to say.

"Eep! Time for bed!" Grug called.

The moment shattered. Guy dropped his hand and looked away. "Time's up," he sighed.

Eep didn't move. "Are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah," Guy tried to smile. "I will be." He jerked his head back towards the sleeping area. "Go on."

Eep sighed and got to her feet.

Guy watched her go, trying not to resent the caveman's call. Talking to Eep alone by the fire at night was his favorite part of the day, and so he made it a rule never to argue or hold her back when Grug called for her. He didn't want the grumpy father to get huffy and start demanding that Eep go to bed with the rest of the family.

But some nights it was hard to let her go. He ached to hold her, to bury his face in her hair and let go of all the pain he had locked away since that conversation with his father this afternoon. He hadn't wanted Pal to know how upset he had been, though he knew he was lousy at hiding his feelings. That failure had haunted Guy for a long time.

He hadn't failed at all, though. He had saved them. He should be happy. Eep and Pal were right, really. There was no guarantee that things would have worked out any better if he HAD disobeyed his father and stayed with them. In fact, it was entirely possible that everything would have turned out exactly the opposite, that his parents would not have been saved and Eep would not have been saved and he would be here, alone.

But the problem was, the outcome didn't change his feelings. His failure at the tar pits had haunted him his entire life, not because he couldn't save his family, but because it had been the one time in his life when he had given up.

For a while, he had blamed his father, angry that Pal had given up. If Pal had only kept fighting, Guy would never have given up himself. The anger faded with time, but Guy had never quite forgiven himself. A part of him had never expected to get this far, had accepted the reality that it was far more likely that he would die long before he made it to Tomorrow. But he never let the odds get to him. He never gave up. Never, except that once.

At least if he had stayed, he would have been able to go on without regrets. No matter how fortunate the end result, no matter how unlikely it was that any other set of circumstances would have brought him here, surrounded by the people he loved, his future brighter than it had ever been...he should not have quit.

"Hey."

Guy nearly jumped out of his skin, heart in his throat as he looked up. Grug loomed over him. "Um..." was all that Guy managed to say.

"I just—you know, I just wanted to, uh, make sure you were okay," the big man said, rolling his shoulders and swinging his hands. "You were kinda quiet tonight."

"Um," Guy said again, feeling stupid. He got to his feet, holding Belt. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay."

Grug looked in his face. "Oh. Well, cause if you aren't, if you want to—um, if you want to talk or something, well. I'm not real sleepy."

Guy couldn't help a smile. "I don't really think talking is going to make it any better. I was just thinking about—regrets."

Grug actually laughed. "Yeah, well, I definitely know a thing or two about those. Everybody's got 'em, I guess. Some of us...more than others," he said, his gaze sliding off to one side.

"Yeah?" Guy said, looking down at Belt and stroking the sloth's head. "How do you get past them?"

Grug smiled ruefully. "I have no idea. Maybe they're like scars. You try to avoid them, but once you have them, they're there for life, and you just have to try to live with them. As long as you've only got a few, you can still keep going. But if you start stacking scars on scars, regrets on regrets—well. They start to slow you down, make it harder for you to move on."

"And there's no way to get rid of them," Guy said softly.

"You can't change the past," Grug said, putting a hand on his shoulder, just as Pal had earlier this afternoon while saying those exact same words. "This, uh, regret you were thinking about – did you learn from it?"

Guy nodded.

"Then that's all it can do for you," the caveman said, letting his hand drop. "Spending any more time on it is just giving up a moment now that you can't get back, and that just leads to more regrets." He prodded Guy's arm. "You don't seem like the type to waste that kind of time."

Guy had to smile at that.

"Well..." Grug cleared his throat and fidgeted uncomfortably. "Look, no matter what happens, you have a place here with us. That won't change. No matter what, okay?"

Guy nodded. "Okay."

Grug put his arm around Guy's shoulders and crushed the boy briefly against his side in an awkward sort of hug that left Guy gasping for air.

"All right, now go to bed," Grug said, spinning Guy around and shoving him towards his pallet. "Sitting up brooding won't help."

Bizarrely, Guy actually felt better as he walked towards his bed. He looked at Belt. "Wonder what brought that on?" he whispered.

"Rrrrr," Belt agreed, scrambling up to hang around Guy's neck.


	6. Unfolding

_Thank you, dear readers, for your patience on this chapter. I'm back from vacation and I'm officially another year older, so all that mess is done with and we should be back on track from here. I hope you enjoy this chapter since it was a long wait!_

_As always, heaps of thank yous to my reviewers, Karts of Sugar Rush and Super Guest! I've also seen a bunch of people faving and following this story recently, so thank you all as well! I'd love to hear what you think._

_One quick note on questions – if you've asked a question in a review and I haven't answered it, it's because I'm hoping the story itself will provide your answer eventually, and I don't want to spoil or even bias anybody by answering directly. I'd rather let the story stand on its own as much as possible. I'm not trying to ignore anybody, so I just wanted to make sure I said that._

_But! I also don't want anybody to not get an answer to their question if they'd like one, so what I will do is, **I will let you know in the author's note when we reach the final chapter of this story, and you can post any questions you have that weren't answered to your satisfaction, and I will address those questions in the author's note when I post the short epilogue I have planned.**_

_Of course, if you have a burning question that you want an answer to right away, you can send me a PM, and I will answer, spoilery or not._

_Enough blabbering! On to the story._

* * *

It had been another bad night, though she had tried to lay quiet and still so Pal wouldn't know. Inda sat on their little pallet, combing her fingers through her hair, thinking about the things her mate had said before he left just after dawn. _Inda, you know we can't stay here forever, not like this, living in someone else's home. We need to talk soon about what we're going to do next. Be thinking about what you want._

She felt an irrational surge of annoyance, since he usually told her she was thinking too much, and they'd really only been here a couple of days, but she knew at the same time that he was right. This was probably not a viable long-term situation, and he wanted her to be prepared for that fact. _Think about what you want_. She sighed.

"Hello?"

Inda turned and saw Guy poking his head under the tree branches.

"I'm here," she answered, going to meet him.

"Hi, Mom," he smiled, and the greeting gave her a warm glow.

"Good morning," she smiled back.

"Where's Dad?" he asked.

"He went out early this morning. He wanted to have a look around. You know he can never stay in one place for very long."

"Oh," Guy said, his smile fading. "I would have shown him around if he wanted."

Inda laughed. "It's not exploring if you tell him about it ahead of time," she told Guy. "Let him have his fun, he'll be back soon. I know he was hoping you two could finish those spears today."

"I can probably finish them before he gets back," Guy said, grinning. "I'm pretty quick when I'm not distracted. I wanted to take care of these first, though," he said, gesturing at the pieces of skin he held.

"What's that?" Inda asked.

"I'm going to make you some shoes," he said, turning. "Come on out into the light were we can see better."

Inda was still mystified, but she followed him out to the open grass. Guy dumped his armload on the ground and dropped to sit. "Come sit down," he said, his forehead creasing slightly as he sorted through his materials. Inda suppressed a smile at his focus as she obeyed. "I need your feet," he said, and Inda shifted so that instead of kneeling as she usually did, she was sitting with her legs stretched out in front of her. Belt dropped from Guy's waist and, to Inda's bemusement, used his long arms to measure her feet. He then toddled over to the skin Guy had laid out, and traced an outline on it in chalk. "Got it," Guy said, taking out his knife.

Inda's mouth fell open slightly with surprise as she watched Guy and Belt worked together to cut the skin into pieces and then sew it together again. Belt threaded needles, tied off the string, and communicated his opinions in a series of trills and chitters, to which Guy responded as if he understood perfectly. She'd never seen anything like it.

Watching Guy work, she noticed with a pang the fine growth of hair along his jaw and chin. Another reminder of how grown up he was. It made her sad to think of him all by himself in his fifteenth summer, tying up his hair for the first time, without any of the rituals and celebrations that went along with becoming a man. She should have been there to take his first kill and cook it for him, and his father should have been there to teach him how to tie his topknot (neatly and properly centered) and-

And these were exactly the types of things Pal and Ugga had told her not to think about. She tried to pull herself out of the circle of regrets.

Fortunately Guy did indeed work quickly, and soon the skins were reformed, slipped over her feet, and secured at her ankles with ties. "All done," Guy announced, and grinned at his mother. "What do you think?"

Inda looked, turning her foot as she examined the "shoes." "I like them," she admitted, although she still didn't really understand the purpose.

"Girls always like the shoes," Guy shook his head. "I don't get it. I've been wearing the same pair for months, but Eep has at least three and she's always wanting me to make her more. Ugga, too."

"But what are they for?" Inda wanted to know.

"To protect your feet," Guy told her, standing up. "You won't hurt yourself stepping on sharp rocks or flint chips while you're wearing these. Here, stand up." He held his hands out to her, and Inda allowed him to pull her to her feet, where she wobbled unsteadily.

"It feels...strange," she said, privately thinking that was an understatement. She couldn't feel the ground normally, and her toes didn't have any way to grip the turf. The hide didn't want to bend with her feet either.

"They take a little while to get used to," Guy told her, still holding her hands to steady her. "They're a little stiff when they're new, too. After a few days they'll bend with your feet better, and your balance will adjust. Come on, try it."

He took a step back, Inda's hands still firmly clasped in his, and Inda followed, letting him steady her.

"Shift your weight more onto your heels instead of the balls of your feet," he instructed, and that helped when she tried it.

After a few tentative steps, she smiled at him. "I taught you to walk just like this," she said. "I don't suppose you remember, but I used to hold your hands just like this while you tried to figure out how your feet worked."

"I don't remember," Guy admitted, and then he smiled. "I kind of wish I did. I remember you patching up a lot of scraped knees and bruises, though. And how you used to carry me on your back when I got tired, even though Dad always thought you should make me walk for myself."

Inda bit her lip, partly in concentration as she re-learned how to walk, and partly because she remembered more than one argument about how Pal was trying to make Guy grow up too quickly. Even then, she had felt how precious that childhood was. In the end, they'd both been right; the time had been precious, and Guy had had to grow up more quickly than Inda wanted.

"You're getting the hang of it," Guy stopped, and Inda did feel steadier on her feet. Impulsively, she took one more step forward and put her arms around Guy's neck. She felt him lurch in surprise but she held on anyway. "I'm sorry," she sighed. "I know you're too old for this. I just—" _I just wanted to hold my baby one more time_. "I missed you," she said instead.

To her surprise, Guy put his arms around her, hugging her so tightly she could barely breathe. "I'm not too old. I love you, Mom."

Inda squeezed her eyes shut. "I love you too. Even though you went and grew up without me." She pulled back and ruffled his hair. "Who said you could get so big?"

"I didn't exactly have a choice," Guy grinned. "I don't mind now, but it was really inconvenient when it happened. I grew so fast, I could barely keep myself clothed, and I was _starving _all the time."

Inda let him go, and they went back to the pile of materials Guy had left on the ground. She knelt on the grass as he squatted and began to gather his things together. "I'm sure that must have been hard for you, going through all that and not even having anyone there to explain it to you."

Guy sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "It wasn't fun, especially when I ran into other people." His face was slowly turning red, and, suspecting that he was reliving some rather embarrassing memories of the sort that every teenager collects, Inda felt a tactful change of subject was in order. Her eyes fell on the necklace at his throat.

"You were supposed to trade this," Inda said, reaching out to touch it.

Guy put a protective hand over it, avoiding his mother's eyes. "I didn't want to. I traded a couple of beads when I got really desperate, but it was yours. I didn't want to lose it."

Inda put a hand on top of his head. "It's just a thing," she chided gently. "It wasn't worth you going hungry or not having what you needed."

"It was to me," Guy said, smiling at the ground. "Anyway, I managed." He seemed to hesitate a moment, and then he reached into the feathered pouch on his hip and pulled out a small roll of animal skin. He put it on the ground between them and unrolled it. "I kept this too, but it didn't make the journey so well. I'm sorry."

"Oh," Inda breathed, reaching out to touch the fragments of the small bone flute that had been wrapped up in the skin.

"I wish it was in one piece. I would have liked to hear you play it again." Guy smiled. "I used to love your music."

"So did I," Inda admitted. "I haven't played since that day, though. I'm not sure it would be the same."

"Maybe not, but I'd still like to hear it." He pulled one more thing out of his pouch, turned it over in his hands for a moment, and held it out to her with a shy smile. "I don't know if it'll work right," he confessed. "I've never made one of these before, but there was enough left of the old one that I thought I could try to copy it."

Inda slowly took the new flute, her fingers traveling lightly over it. "You made this for me?" She smiled at him. "Thank you."

Guy ducked his head and hunched his shoulders, grinning. "Like I said, I'm not sure it will—"

Inda put the flute to her lips and blew. The note that sounded was a little raspy, but she adjusted her lips and blew a second time, and this time the sound was clear. She moved her fingers and a second note sounded.

"Oooh," Belt purred, his eyes wide.

Inda smiled at Guy. "I think it works just fine."

Guy's smile brightened like the sunrise.

"It's been such a long time," Inda remarked, turning the flute in her hands thoughtfully. "Let's see what I remember." She began a simple melody, one she'd been playing since she was a girl. Her fingers were clumsy and out of practice, the new flute unfamiliar and slightly different in tone from her old one, but the song was recognizable. She forgot where she was, her eyes drifting half shut as she played.

When she opened her eyes again, she found Eep sitting with Guy, her arms wrapped around her knees and her mouth slightly open in a wide, fascinated smile.

"That was beautiful," Eep said eagerly, and then she was on her feet, hopping toward Inda to examine the little flute. Inda tensed, but Guy touched Eep's arm and she backed off immediately. "Sorry," the girl apologized, and looked at Guy. "That's what you were making last night?"

He nodded.

"Thank you," Inda told him, reaching over to squeeze his hand. "I didn't even realize how much I missed it."

Guy looked like he couldn't grin any wider. Then he seemed to shake himself, and picked up his things. "I'm going to see how much I can finish before Dad gets back." He looked back at Inda, rubbing the back of his neck. "Do you want to come sit with me?"

Inda smiled. "I'd love to." Guy put a hand down and helped pull her to her feet. She wobbled a little.

"Ooh," Eep said, peering at Inda's feet. "Love the shoes."

* * *

Pal had been away longer than he intended, but the sun was still only halfway to being overhead as he found the entrance to the valley again. He stopped in his tracks, listening, and then he started walking again, moving more quickly. His eyes went to the family campfire, and took in Ugga, Gran, and Thunk watching something out of his sight. As he kept walking, he followed their gaze and saw Guy, Eep, and Inda sitting where he and Guy had been yesterday. The sound – the music – was coming from there. Pal stopped again, and then went towards them, his steps now heavy and slow, like the vision would disappear if he startled it.

No one noticed him. Guy was focused on his work, Eep was focused on Inda, and Inda was absorbed in her playing. It was all so familiar; the song, the curve of her neck, the flutter of her fingers. She looked peaceful.

She looked happy.

Pal stopped a few paces away, barely breathing. Eep glanced up at him and smiled politely, but paid him no other attention.

Inda's song faltered, and she lowered the flute, frowning. "I can't remember how it ends," she mused thoughtfully. "I'll have to work on it and see if I can figure it out." She glanced up, saw Pal, and smiled at him. "Welcome back."

He couldn't speak. Guy looked up, and grinned. "Hey, Dad."

"Look," Inda said, holding her flute up for his inspection. "Guy made it for me," she told him proudly.

Pal glanced at Guy, who nodded and stood. "Finished these, too," he said, handing Pal the antler he'd been working on and indicating a pile of completed ones. "We should be good to go."

Pal took them without really seeing them. It took him another moment to tear his eyes from Inda. "Yeah," he said finally, looking at Guy. "Yeah, three each. Wow, that was quick."

Guy's quick grin flashed across his face.

"Okay, well—let's go find something for the shafts and get these lashed together," Pal said, clapping him on the back. "Then we can go give them a try."

It was quick work to finish the spears after that. Guy left Pal tying the last one and went to the hollow tree near his bed where he kept some of his own things. He quickly traded his pants for a shorter pair he had made when they first arrived and spent a lot of time in the water, cooling off on hot afternoons, and he'd gotten tired of constantly wet shoes and pants. He left his shoes behind, figuring they would just be one more thing to carry.

A shrill whistle caught his attention, and he turned, frowning, ducking under the foliage to look for the unfamiliar sound. He saw Inda seated near the base of the waterfall, laughing. Eep was with her. Curious, Guy went towards them, skirting through the trees along the canyon wall rather than walking across the meadow, for reasons he couldn't have explained.

"Not so hard," Inda ways saying as he came close enough to hear. "You need to blow gently and slowly, so you hold the note nice and steady."

Guy leaned on a low branch in front of him, and watched Eep raise Inda's bone flute to her lips and blow. The note that came was less shrill this time and lasted longer. Guy smiled slightly.

"Good," Inda said, smiling. "Much better. Here." She reached over, and arranged Eep's hands on the flute. "Okay. Hold your fingers tight there, and then blow again, the same way, soft and gentle."

Guy watched as Eep piped a second note, and then, with Inda's guidance, a third. They were shaky and airy, not the clear notes that sounded as Inda played, but identifiable as separate tones. Eep was grinning when she gave the flute back to Inda.

Inda played the same three notes, first in order, and then rearranged to make a different tune. She gave the flute back to Eep, and Eep imitated her.

Guy turned back into the trees, unable to keep the grin off of his face. He made his way quickly back to where Pal waited for him.

"Ready to go?" Pal asked as he approached.

"Definitely," Guy grinned broadly. "Let's do this."

* * *

It had taken a while to get the boy past his fascination with the way things under the water weren't quite where they appeared to be. Pal had demonstrated this by showing him the way a spear placed halfway under the water looked bent in the middle, and then had been hard pressed to get Guy to pay attention to the fish afterward.

Now that he was finally concentrating, he looked like a different person, brows lowered and jaw set. Pal was impressed with his focus – though not his aim just yet. Guy lunged and missed, the flat-bodied fish he'd been aiming for skittering out of the way in a cloud of sand.

"Not quite," Pal smiled. "You still need to aim a little lower."

Guy straightened, wiping saltwater off his face. "I never knew water lied before."

"Once you get it once, it'll be easier to compensate the next time," Pal told him as they waded carefully through the water, looking for another target. Thanks to Eep's information, and his own explorations, Pal had been able to choose a relatively sheltered cove where the water wasn't too disturbed by the surf. It was frequented by a type of flat fish that lay still on the sand, relying on their coloring for camouflage. Pal had caught two already, demonstrating the technique. Now he hung back and let Guy take the lead.

Pal saw the fish first, but Guy spotted it without his aid this time, holding out a hand in a silent signal. Moving slowly and quietly as Pal had showed him, he waded as close as he dared, and then lunged again. This time, he succeeded, the fish thrashing on the end of his spear. The pointed barbs held it fast.

The serious young man gave way to the enthusiastic boy again as Guy's face split in a wide grin. Pal clapped a hand on his shoulder and helped him haul the fish to shore.

"You did it," Pal grinned, as the fish flopped on the sand. "Your first fish." He looked at Guy. "Hungry?"

Guy looked doubtful. "Shouldn't we take it back?"

Pal shrugged. "Not really enough to feed everybody yet, and a man should get to eat his first catch. It's tradition. Why don't we take a break, cook this up, and then we can catch a few more to take back?"

"Okay," Guy said slowly, his grin coming back. "Sure. That sounds good."

Guy built them a fire while Pal gutted and spitted Guy's fish and one of his own.

For his part, Guy was having the time of his life. He was fishing with his father; for once, someone was teaching him instead of the other way around. There was comfort in the very ordinariness of it all, one thing in his life that was happening exactly the way it was supposed to, even if it was a little late to be totally normal. The only cloud was that it bothered him how long the fish took to die. Guy didn't particularly enjoy killing things, having come close to death so many times himself, so he made it a point to be good at it, to kill quickly and cleanly. It pained him to watch the fish flop and gasp and bleed.

For a while they were too busy to speak much, but once the fish were on the fire, Pal cleared his throat. Guy looked at him, but his father was gazing steadily into the fire. "That was a good thing you did," Pal said finally. "The flute for your mom." He met Guy's eyes. "Thank you."

Not sure what to say, Guy nodded, and dropped his gaze. "That was one thing I never forgot," he said. "Her music. I know there are a lot of things I can't remember that well anymore, but I always remembered the songs."

"Me too," Pal sighed. "When she was a girl she was always playing or humming or singing. Even before I cared anything about her, I noticed that much. She hasn't done that in a long time. I missed it."

It was Guy's turn to stare into the fire.

"What did it feel like?" he finally asked, without looking at Pal. "When you fell in love with Mom? Did it—Did it happen all at once, or did it take time?"

He could feel his father's eyes on him, although he didn't look up. "Is this about Eep?"

Guy nodded his head just the tiniest bit.

"Do you love her?"

Guy hesitated. "I think—I mean—" he stuttered, his face burning. "I've just—I've never been in love, I've hardly known any girls at all, but I've never felt like this before, and I just...need to know what it's supposed to feel like." He clamped his mouth shut before he could let anything else spill out. _I don't know what I'm doing. I want to be sure. I don't want to hurt her. _

Pal folded his arms and sighed, looking thoughtful. "It's not the same for everybody," he said after a moment. "For some people it does happen right away. Some people take longer. Some people never fall in love at all, and some people fall in love all the time."

Guy sighed, dropping his chin into his hand. "That's not very helpful."

"For me, it took a long time, but it happened all at once," Pal said, looking out over the water. "You have to understand, your mom and I grew up in the tribe together. She was—always a little strange," he smiled. "Quiet and serious. She liked music and stories and she never seemed to have her mind on what she was doing at the time. Me, I always wanted to be going and doing and seeing, and I didn't understand how anybody could be happy just sitting around all day, staring at nothing and making things. It's not that I disliked her, or anything, I just never really thought about her at all." He smiled at some image in his mind, and Guy waited.

"Well, one day they sent a bunch of us out of the village to go gather—something or other, I don't remember, and I was already in trouble with my parents so I didn't wander off like I usually did. I ended up talking to your mom, and—" He shook his head. "I'd been on that bluff a thousand times," he said, his voice suddenly a little softer. "It was a nice view, but nothing exciting. But when she talked about it, I felt like I'd never really seen it before. I looked and saw the ocean, but she saw time, and life, and change, and—" He shook his head. "It's hard for me to explain it. I saw what it looked like. She saw what it was, what it had been, what it could be, all at once. I realized, all those times I thought she was staring at nothing, she was really thinking, seeing things in her mind that weren't in front of her. I started asking her to walk with me sometimes when I left the village. I always wanted to find new things, see new things, but suddenly it was like I couldn't look at anything without wondering what she would see in it. Like I was going to miss something if she wasn't there all the time to show it to me. That's how it started."

"Like when you find something new and she's not with you, you're disappointed that you didn't get to find it together, but at the same time you can't wait to show her so you can see the look on her face." Guy said slowly. "Yeah, I get that." He looked up. "It's more than that, though, right?"

Pal smiled. "Yeah. That's just the falling part. Once your head's turned, and you start spending time together, it's a thousand little things that you suddenly can't live without."

Guy nodded, picking at a bit of dirt under his fingernails. "She spent her whole life in the dark and never stopped dreaming of the light. She jumps into everything with both feet and I'm always running to keep up. I tell her something and I think she's hardly even listening, and then she turns around and asks me a question about something I said three days ago that I barely even remember." Guy smiled. "Every time I think I'm getting a handle on things she manages to find a way to knock me completely off balance again. And the whole time she's doing it, she doesn't even know how amazing she is." He finally looked at his father. "Stuff like that?"

Pal nodded slowly. "Most importantly, love is unselfish. You find yourself putting what she wants or needs ahead of what you want. You want her to be safe and happy more than anything else."

Guy didn't even have to think about that one. "Then yeah," he said, with a small smile. "I love her."

So it was true. It was real. He was in love. Desperately, hopelessly, joyfully in love. Just admitting it to himself made him feel a little giddy. He threw himself backwards on the sand, folded his hands under his head, and stared up at the sky. He took a deep breath and blew it out slowly, trying to steady a heart that was suddenly racing.

"I tried to be careful," he said quietly, when he was calmer. "I didn't want to promise too much, not without being sure. But— Eep's, um...direct, and getting here, it was kind of intense, and—" he flushed. "Well, by the time everything settled down enough for me to think about what I was doing, I was afraid..."

"You'd already created expectations?" Pal said tactfully.

Guy winced. "Yeah. And I didn't really mind, at first, because I knew I cared about her, but then I started thinking about how little we knew about each other and how neither of us had ever really spent any time with anybody else and I started to—worry." He faltered on the word. Worry was something Guy never really bothered with. He'd always considered it a waste of time he didn't have and energy he couldn't spare. He'd worried over this problem, though, because it wasn't something action or ingenuity could solve.

"You're still young, Guy," Pal said seriously. "You're old enough to take a mate if you want to, but that doesn't mean you have to be in a rush. There are other girls out there." Probably, both of them thought, but didn't say.

"Not like her," Guy sighed, and broke into a wide grin. "I could meet a thousand girls and not one of them would be like Eep."

Pal had nothing to say to that.

"I get it," Guy said, sitting up to look at Pal. "I do. I don't want to rush anything, and Eep – she's only just now figuring out who she is outside of the cave. I want her to be free to do that. But at least I know what I feel is real now. Thanks for helping me."

Pal got up and poked at the roasting fish. "You should talk to your mother, if you get the chance," he said. "She's better with this sort of thing than I am." He pulled the fish out of the fire. "These look ready." He grinned. "Unless you're too lovesick to eat."

Guy grinned back, reaching eagerly for the fish. "Not a chance."

* * *

The load of fish they brought back that afternoon was still more Pal's catch than Guy's, but Guy felt a sense of pride anyway as they walked back into the valley. They'd brought back enough to make a decent meal for the whole family.

Guy felt a guilty pang as he looked around, taking a quick mental count out of habit. He'd been neglecting his Crood family the past few days, focused on his parents.

"I'm going to go find your mother," Pal told him, handing him the rest of the fish. "Think you can handle these?"

"Sure," Guy nodded, and went towards the fire. As usual, Gran was reclining in her woven chair, the pack of liyotes gibbering and chasing one another around her feet. Guy shooed them off with his foot as he moved along, keeping the fish out of their reach.

"Hey, Gran," Guy went to her, crouching at the side of her chair. "Guess who brought home dinner tonight?"

"Oh, you've decided to notice me again, have you?" Gran grumped, folding her arms.

"Don't be like that," Guy grinned. "You know you're important to me." It was only half a joke. He liked the tough old survivor, and spoiled her outrageously whenever he got the chance. He did it partly because he much preferred having the wily, observant old woman as an ally to having her as an enemy (or even a neutral party), partly out of genuine respect, and partly because he suspected she hadn't had a particularly happy life.

"Hmph," Gran sniffed. "You've been ignoring me for days, and you think you can win me back with food?"

Guy pretended dismay. "I caught a big one especially for you."

"Hmm..." Gran said, eyeing the fish. "Well. We'll see how it tastes." But she winked at him, and Guy grinned back. He stood up and looked around.

"Hey, Thunk," he called. "Want to give me a hand with these?"

The younger boy looked up and came running over. "Awesome!" he said, licking his lips at the sight of the fish. Guy was happy to hand them over; they were getting heavy.

"Come on, I'll show you how to cook these," Guy said, and then added a little proudly, "My dad showed me how this afternoon."

Thunk grinned. He was still pretty hopeless as a hunter, in Guy's private opinion, but he showed promise as a cook. He loved anything related to food, anyway.

Guy showed him how to spit the fish on a stick of green wood, and they propped the skewers up at the proper angle all around the fire. "Okay," Guy said, standing up. "Can you keep an eye on that? You'll need to turn them every few minutes."

"You bet," Thunk bounced, clearly eager to try the new food.

Guy wandered over to where Grug was sitting, fiddling with a spear. Grug was pretty hopeless at making or fixing tools, but he still made a show of trying. Usually Ugga or Guy ended up secretly redoing anything Grug had attempted.

"Hey, Grug," Guy ventured, feeling a little awkward about talking to the big man after their unexpected conversation the night before.

Grug wrinkled his nose. "You smell."

"Ah," Guy looked down at himself, flecked with fish scales. He did, he realized, smell like fish. "Sorry about that."

"Good hunting?" Grug asked grudgingly, looking towards the fire.

"Yeah, great," Guy grinned. "Dad caught most of it, but I did get a few."

"No traps this time, huh?" Grug asked gruffly.

"Not yet," Guy replied, his eyes brightening. "But I've actually got some ideas how to make some. Maybe we can even set some in the stream here, I've seen fish come over the falls before."

"Huh. Well, that's uh...that's great." Grug reached out and punched Guy companionably in the arm, lightly, but still enough to make Guy stagger. "Good work."

"Thanks," Guy said, a little surprised.

"Don't let it go to your head," Grug growled, sniffing his hand and then wiping it on his tunic with a scowl. "Maybe you should go wash up or something."

"Yeah, I better do that," Guy said, backing away, grateful for the escape.

Guy went to the stream and waded in, splashing water up over his body. He didn't know how much good it was going to do, but at least it got the scales and saltwater off him. Saltwater made him itch when it dried, anyway. When he splashed out, he thought he smelled less, although the Croods' noses were much more sensitive than his.

He went back to the fire to check on Thunk and the food. Ugga smiled up at him as he passed. When he had checked the fish, Guy turned and came back to sit next to her.

"Did you have fun today?" she asked, before he could even open his mouth.

Guy smiled. "It was fun. I'm not that good at it, though. If it's okay with you and Grug, I thought maybe we could take Eep with us tomorrow. I think she would like it."

Ugga chuckled. "I'll bet she would. That would be nice." She glanced at him. "How's it been, having them back?"

"Good," Guy said, fiddling with the edge of his shorts. "Weird," he admitted. "But good. Mom's stopped looking like she's going to burst into tears every time she sees me, so that's progress, I suppose." He grinned.

"She seems happier today," Ugga said. "That thing she blows into - she seems to like that."

"The flute." Guy nodded. "She used to play all the time, before. When I was little. It's good to hear it again." He paused, looking at his hands. "It's a little hard to talk to her, sometimes. I'm still afraid anything I say is going to upset her." He yelped as Sandy came flying out of nowhere to land on his back. "Hey Sandy," he gasped, as she hugged him fiercely around the neck.

"It may upset her," Ugga said, prying Sandy's hands off of Guy's neck. "But you should still talk to her. I know she wants to hear about your life, even if it's difficult."

Guy nodded slowly. Impulsively, he leaned over and put one arm around Ugga, squeezing her to his side as best he could. He couldn't say anything, but she seemed to understand. She patted his knee and smiled.

"Rrrrr," said a familiar voice, and Guy looked up. Belt was sitting on one of the rocks above them.

"There you are," Guy smiled, reaching up. Belt hopped down into his arms, and curled into his place around Guy's waist.

"Ugga, do you know where Eep is?" Guy asked.

Ugga pointed back towards the cliff wall. "I'm sure she'll be down in a minute."

"Thanks," Guy said, getting up with a self-conscious smile at the knowing look she gave him.

Guy walked back towards the cliff wall, stopping to peer through the branches near his parents' sleeping place, thinking to greet his mother.

She was there, but Pal had her wrapped up in his arms, and they swayed in place slightly as they kissed. Guy watched them with a small smile. He remembered seeing them kiss when he was little and he'd just thought it was gross. Now—well, it was still a little gross, but it made him happy to see that he hadn't imagined how in love they had been back then. He moved away quietly, not wanting to interrupt their moment.

Those vague memories of his parents' affection were all the experience he'd had with love, before he met Eep. The conversations he'd had with girls as he passed through the few nomad tribes he'd met were universally short, awkward, and embarrassing, and the only thing he had learned from meeting other people was that it was extremely possible to feel desire without love. Wanting was easy to understand. Love was a lot more complicated. He hadn't had time for complicated back then.

Things were so different now.

Eep hopped off her ledge as he approached, making her way down the wall more slowly than usual in the dimming light. His heartbeat quickened unexpectedly when she reached the ground and turned her smile on him. He smiled back.

Eep's expression turned puzzled. She tilted her head and raised an eyebrow. "What?"

He realized he was doing it again, that thing where he stared at her with a stupid grin on his face and forgot to blink, forgot to breathe.

Guy shook his head. "Nothing." _I'm just stupid in love with you. No big deal._

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously at the sappy smile he knew was plastered over his face. "Why is everyone so weird lately?" she wondered aloud, exasperated.

Somehow that broke his stupor. Guy chuckled, and reached a hand behind her head. He pulled her forward and rested his forehead against hers briefly, then let her go. "Come on. Dinner should be just about ready."

"What is with you?" Eep muttered, but the look she gave him as she fell into step beside him was more affectionate than annoyed. He just smiled and took her hand.

Dinner was the usual frenzy, Guy barely managing to get out a warning to be careful of the bones before the Croods tore into the food. Since he'd had his fill earlier, he didn't eat. He set his back against one of the rocks by the fire and stretched his legs out in front of him. The seasons were changing, he'd noticed over the last moon or so, and the nights were growing cooler. He was grateful for the fire. Pal and Inda joined him first, Inda with her flute in hand. The Croods drifted over in ones and twos, as they finished eating.

The smell of cooked fish, the sound of his mother's flute, the slight nip in the air...Guy tilted his head back against the rock behind him and let his eyes fall shut. His memories of their village were mostly vague impressions from his earliest childhood, but somehow all of these sensations came together to feel like...home. The sounds of Thunk playing with Douglas, Gran and Ugga's distant bickering, and Sandy's growl just added to the feeling, rather than taking away from it.

He was home.

"Croods," Grug called. "Time for bed." Guy listened to the family gather itself for bed. Inda's flute ceased. Guy stayed where he was, relaxed and comfortable.

Eep stood nearby, feeling a little uncertain. Once they were alone in the glimmering firelight, she sat next to him and touched his hand lightly. "Sorry," she smiled as he lifted his head and opened his eyes. "Were you asleep?"

"No," he smiled back. "Just...thinking." He was quiet a moment. "I was trying to remember the last time I was this happy," he said softly. "And I couldn't think of anything."

"Yeah?" Eep moved closer to him, pressing against his side.

"Yeah," he said, picking up her hand and lacing his fingers through hers. "This right now is pretty much perfect." He paused. "Well, maybe not quite perfect," he amended, lowering his voice. "I can think of one thing." He turned his head slightly to look at her, a lopsided grin on his face. "But I'm pretty sure your dad's still watching us, so..."

She shoved him with her shoulder, giggling.

Guy smiled and let his head fall back again. "It's a little scary," he said, after a moment.

"What is?" she asked.

"Being this happy. Makes me feel like something has to go wrong." He sighed. "Something always changes."

He didn't see Eep's smile slip, or the glance she threw in the direction Inda and Pal had gone. _He doesn't see it_, she thought.

"At least I have tonight to remember." He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, and then raised his head again and looked at her. Eep looked back up at him. "Not without you," he said quietly. Her brow furrowed in confusion.

"What?"

"You asked me whether I would go with my parents if they left," he reminded her, and her lips parted, eyebrows lifting, as confusion gave way to surprise and a fluttering hope that she would rather have died than admitted. "Not without you," he repeated, and she nearly stopped breathing. "If they want to leave, and you don't want to come with us, then I stay too. Either way, I won't leave you." He looked down, pulling their joined hands into his lap and stroking the back of her hand with his finger. "I just needed you to know that."

"They're your parents," she whispered, hardly able to believe him.

He raised his eyes to hers. "They are. And I love them, I do. I don't want to lose them. I want them to stay here. But if it comes down to it...they're not my future."

_You are_, she wanted him to say, but his eyes dropped and he looked away, still holding something back. But that was okay. She remembered the way he had looked at her today when she came down from the cliff, and the look in his eyes just now, and felt that something in him was shifting. Eep was not particularly patient, but she wasn't going to push him on this.

She was more than happy to encourage him any way she could, though. She glanced back to the family's sleeping place, taking in the terrain with a hunter's eye, and then she shoved Guy over, pushing him until he moved about a foot to his right.

"What—" he started, and then stopped when she moved to kneel between his knees, taking his face in her hands. "Eep," he protested, even as his hands came up to grip her waist.

"He can't see us from here," she whispered with a grin, and she kissed him softly before he could say anything else. She knew she wouldn't have much time once her father noticed they were out of sight, but she kissed him again, slowly. His hands tightened on her hips at the soft brush of her tongue and he made a helpless sound in the back of his throat.

She was a little surprised at the thrill humming along her veins, and she hoped he felt it too. She almost never kissed him like this; she suspected he had a whole list of rules about when and where he felt okay kissing her in his head, so usually when she kissed him she did it lightly, as an invitation for him to kiss her if he felt comfortable. She was also pretty sure one of those rules was no kissing in the valley, where it was far too easy to be caught.

As far as Eep was concerned, rules were made to be broken, and from the way he was trying to move against her, she was pretty sure he was okay with it just this once too.

"Eep!" Grug called, his voice laced with suspicion, and she broke the kiss with a sigh.

"Closer to perfect?" she whispered.

"Much," Guy said huskily, and she smiled.

"Good." She pressed his lips softly, and then went quickly to obey her father's call before he got too suspicious, feeling rather pleased with herself.


	7. Unprepared

_Many, many thanks for the thoughtful reviews I received on the last chapter, I really appreciated it. Much love to Cream of Ice, Maeve Howard, Super Guest (yes, the chapter titles are definitely getting more challenging), and Karts of Sugar Rush. I'm super grateful.  
_

_Man, these chapters just keep getting longer. This one fought me, too, I had a whole day where NOTHING I did was working, and then all of a sudden I fixed all of the things that were bugging me in an hour. Go figure. I hope it's as long as it needed to be and no longer._

* * *

For once, Guy wasn't in a hurry to get out of bed when he woke. The happiness he'd felt the evening before lingered, a warm glow that he was reluctant to dispel with the concerns of the day. He smiled sleepily to himself, feeling the ghost of Eep's kiss on his lips. Belt felt him shift and made a sleepy, inquisitive noise.

"You win today," Guy murmured back to him. "Let's sleep in." He rolled over, squirming farther under the covering hanging over his bed to shield his face from the morning light, and curled back up with a contented sigh. The day could wait a little longer. He was in no mood to face reality just yet.

* * *

Inda woke fuzzily. Her limbs were all heavy and sluggish. That probably meant she'd actually slept through the night. She opened one eye a crack, and saw daylight filtering through the leaves.

"Morning," Pal murmured, brushing his lips to her cheek.

"Mmm," Inda stretched, and then rolled over onto her back to look up at him. "Morning. Have you been awake long?"

He was stretched on his side, his head propped up in one hand. "A while. Didn't want to wake you up. You seemed like you were sleeping better than usual."

"I think so," she said, and then yawned. "Still tired though."

"You don't have to get up."

"I feel so useless sitting around all day," she fretted.

"Don't worry about that." Pal stroked her cheek, and she leaned into his hand. "Rest if you need to rest."

"You worry too much," she muttered.

"That's my line," Pal grinned.

"What are you going to do?"

"Guy said something about teaching Eep to fish," Pal said, looking out towards the valley. "I guess we'll be going back down to the shore." He hesitated. "He's in love with her, Inda."

Inda rolled her eyes. "Obviously."

Pal raised his eyebrows.

"I'm not blind," Inda sniffed.

"He's pretty serious about it," Pal said cautiously. Inda just sighed. "We talked about it some, yesterday," Pal continued, playing with her hair. "He had some questions about love and how it feels and when you know you're really in love and all that...I told him he should talk to you too when he gets the chance."

"Okay."

"Is it okay?" Pal asked, his tone skeptical. "You didn't seem all that thrilled about the idea a few days ago."

Inda pursed her lips. "Guy's special. Not just 'he's my son and I love him' special. Really special. You know he is. He's incredible."

"I know," Pal agreed quietly.

Inda sighed. "I like Eep. I spent some time with her yesterday. She's energetic, bright, quick to pick up on things. A little rough around the edges, but sweet. It's just...it's Guy." Inda shrugged.

Pal grinned. "Would anybody be good enough to satisfy you?"

"No," Inda admitted shamelessly.

"So..."

Inda shrugged, idly tracing the lines of his markings across his chest. "You were right. It's his choice. She makes him happy and I think she cares about him."

"I told him he didn't have to rush into anything," Pal said, studying her face. "I told him there are other girls out there."

"And what did he say?"

"He said he could meet a thousand girls and none of them would be like Eep."

Inda chuckled quietly. "That's adorable."

"I wouldn't tell him that," Pal grinned.

"No, of course not. Wouldn't want to offend anyone's manly pride." She lifted a hand and shoved his shoulder playfully. He barely moved.

"So if he comes to talk to you..." Pal raised his eyebrows.

"I'll be supportive." She smiled. "Might be my only chance of seeing grandchildren before I die anyway."

A shadow crossed Pal's face, and she knew it was the wrong thing to say. She leaned up and kissed him.

"Don't worry so much," she told him.

"That's my line," he growled, his deep voice making her shiver as his arms closed tight around her.

* * *

When Guy finally crawled out of bed and looked around, he was a little concerned. The sky overcast, but, he thought as he looked at it, not too much. He concluded that they would be fine for today.

Guy picked up his fishing spear, let Belt settle into place around his waist, and went to find Eep.

He found her playing tag with Chunky near the mouth of the valley, and grinned for a moment as he watched her tumble and roll with the big cat. Eventually she saw him and, giving the macawnivore one last scratch behind the ears, came over to him. "Hey."

"Hey," he greeted. "Busy?"

"Nah," she shook her head. "Just messing around. Chunky seemed kind of restless this morning."

He tossed the spear at her and grinned as she caught it. "Feel like going fishing?"

She looked at it. "Fishing?"

"If you're not too tired," he teased.

Eep snorted, shoving his shoulder as she walked past him. "That was barely even a workout. When do we leave?"

"In a bit. I need to check in with Dad first," he turned to walk back with her. "We talked about it yesterday, but I should probably still ask him."

Eep made a face. "You asked me to go before you even know we're going?"

Guy shrugged. "If he doesn't want to go, we'll go without him."

She glanced at him sharply, but smiled when he met her gaze. "You talk to him," she said. "I'll go change and meet you back here."

"You should probably check with your dad too," Guy said reluctantly. "I said something about it to Ugga yesterday, but you know how he is."

Eep rolled her eyes, but nodded.

* * *

"I'm going fishing with Guy," Eep announced, popping up beside Grug by the campfire.

"Huh?" he grunted.

"I'm going with Guy," she repeated. "We'll be back later."

"Why are you dressed like that?" Grug wanted to know. She had traded her grey and black dress for her old tiger skin.

"Becaaaaauuuuuse," she rolled her eyes at him. "Fish live in the water."

"So?"

"Sooooo we'll get wet. And I don't want to be wearing a wet dress all day. Can I go now?" Eep tapped her foot impatiently.

Grug growled. "I guess."

"Thanks, Dad," she said brightly, throwing a quick one-armed hug around him before she bounded off.

Grug watched her go, and then frowned as he saw not only Guy, but Pal and Inda waiting for her.

"All of them?" Grug muttered, moving towards the group before he even thought about it.

"Let it go, Grug," Ugga told him, catching his arm. She pushed in front of him, blocking his path.

Grug scowled at her. "He's been spending all his time with them for days. And now they're taking Eep, too?"

"They are his family," Ugga said firmly. "They have a right to spend time with him. If he wants Eep to go—well, I think we can probably both guess why."

"Oh, give me a break," Grug scowled, towering over her. "They're not his family. And they're definitely not HER family. We are."

"It's not one or the other, Grug," Ugga said, pushing him in the chest so that he fell back on his rump. "He's part of our family. He's part of their family too, and if the kids have their way, it'll be the same for Eep not too far from now. Stop being so selfish! Can't you see how happy it makes him?"

Grug could see it, and that only made him angrier. He stood up but Ugga just got right up in his face again, fire in her eyes. "You leave them alone, Grug. I mean it. This isn't about you. "

Grug backed up a pace or two. Ugga didn't put her foot down often, but when she did, she was terrifying. "Fine," he growled, slumping.

"Good," she said, and turned to leave. Grug caught her wrist and pulled her back with a sharp tug. She fell against him.

"Where do you think you're going?" he growled, a predatory smile on his face. He secretly loved it when she told him off.

Judging by the smirk she gave him, it wasn't much of a secret.

"I hope you don't mind if I join you," Inda said as Eep came jogging up.

"Sure," Eep shrugged. "I'm ready when you all are."

Guy was looking over her shoulder back at Grug, his expression concerned. "He doesn't look happy."

Eep rolled her eyes. "He's fine. He's just being Dad. Let's go!" She grabbed his hand, ignoring his startled "Woah!" as she nearly pulled him off his feet.

Inda was slow. Guy kept stopping to wait, but finally Pal just waved them on. "We'll catch up." He paused, glancing around. "If you think it's safe."

"It should be," Guy said, walking back towards him. "Chunky keeps most of the big predators away. Here – blow this if you get into trouble." He handed Pal his shell. "Two short means 'all fine, check in.' You'll get an answer from us and one from the valley. One short, one long, means 'no immediate danger, but come here.'" He grinned. "Pretty much anything else means something's trying to kill you and we need to come find you right away."

Pal grinned back, and took the shell. "Clever."

Eep was relieved. It was hard enough to hold back to Guy's pace; waiting for Inda was maddening. Guy and Eep outdistanced his parents without even really trying. Guy held her hand as he always did, but he was walking closer to her than usual, his arm constantly brushing hers. His thumb brushed the back of her hand occasionally. She wasn't sure what had inspired his touchy-feely mood, but she wasn't complaining.

When they got to the cove, he grinned and started to pull her toward the water. Eep had paused to admire the view, blue-green water lapping quietly at the white sand, and she didn't move fast enough. Guy jerked backwards.

"Ow," he complained, letting go of her hand to roll his shoulder.

"Sorry," Eep covered a smile. "You really ought to know better by now."

"I know," he grumbled. "I might as well try to pull a tree." He looked back at her. "Anyway, come on, I want to show you something." He looked down at Belt. "Are you coming, or would you rather stay dry?" Belt considered for a moment, looking between Guy and Eep, and hopped down to the ground.

Guy and Eep waded out into the water a short distance, past the small waves and into the calmer shallows. The water lapped softly against Eep's thighs, the hem of her dress floating and falling with the motion. They had explored this cove some time ago, but she had forgotten it in favor of more exciting places. It was much more peaceful here, she thought, than on the main beach, where the waves tumbled and rolled her. She could play in the rougher water for hours, but this was nice, too.

Guy put the spear in the water and showed her what Pal had showed him, where the water made it look bent.

"How does it do that?" she wondered, as she leaned down to look.

"I don't know," Guy said. "Weird, huh?"

"You not knowing something?" she teased, straightening. "Yeah, that's definitely weird."

"Very funny," he told her, but the way he looked at her made her think he was only half listening. He lifted a hand and ran his thumb across her nose. "You've got more freckles than you did before we came here."

"I do?" She reached up to touch her nose. She craned her neck to look at her shoulder and thought he might be right, there were more spots there too. "Huh."

"Your hair's lighter than it used to be." He twined a strand around his fingers and grinned. "I'm pretty sure that dress is tighter too."

She blushed hotly, shook her hair loose from his hand, and shoved him. He staggered, dropping the spear and nearly losing his footing on the loose, sandy bottom. "Now you're just flattering me," she said, trying not to show how much she liked it. Then she frowned, touching her nose again. "Do they look bad?"

"No," he chuckled, grabbing for the spear before it floated away. "You're beautiful." Then he flushed, like he hadn't meant to say it. "Thanks for last night," he said abruptly, not quite looking at her. "That was—um...nice." He put a hand over his face, a gesture she had learned to interpret as, 'I didn't think this conversation through all the way, help me out here.'

"I thought you might be mad," she confessed, and then she couldn't help a little smirk. "But you seemed okay with it."

"Mad?" he blinked.

She shrugged. "You never kiss me at home."

"Oh, that," he said, looking away again. "I'm not ashamed of it," he said after a moment. "Kissing you, I mean. I'm not embarrassed or anything." He grinned. "I just figure as long as your dad doesn't see us doing it, he can't ask what it is or tell us we're not allowed."

Eep raised an eyebrow. "If he did say it wasn't allowed, would you stop?"

"I'd try," he said seriously. Then he gave a lopsided smile, his gaze slipping from her eyes to her mouth. "I'm not sure it would work."

Eep tilted her head invitingly, a slow smile spreading over her face. Guy bent towards her, but she barely felt his lips before a shriek from the jungle made them both look up. Pal emerged from the trees, grinning, Inda tossed over his shoulder, struggling. "You put me down!" she insisted, laughing. "I told you I could make it here on my own!" He hiked her up and she squealed again.

"I believe you," Pal's deep voice was edged with laughter too. "I just wanted to get here sometime _today_." He raised a hand and waved.

Guy chuckled, waving back. "Looks like the master fisherman's arrived. I'll leave you in his hands." He turned and handed her the fishing spear.

Eep looked at him. "Huh? What are you going to do?"

"I'll go sit with Mom," Guy nodded to where Pal was depositing Inda on the sand. Eep frowned.

"Why can't you teach me?"

"I think you'll learn better from him. And..." His face was slowly turning red again and he couldn't quite meet her eyes. "I'd like you to get to know each other. That's all."

Eep's eyebrows went up again. "Okay."

"Yeah?" he finally looked at her. "Okay. Well...good. Okay." He started backing towards the shore. "I'm, uh, I'm going to go over there then and you..." He fluttered his hands at her. "You have fun."

"He's losing his mind," Eep muttered to herself as Guy sloshed out of the water, stopping to speak with Pal for a moment on his way.

_I'm losing my mind_, Guy thought to himself, seated cross-legged next to his mother. _Yesterday I wasn't even sure how I felt about her and now I'm falling all over myself in the most obvious way possible._ It didn't help that his blood still ran hot at the memory of her ambush last night. He watched her moving through the water, slower and smoother than he had ever been able to move, as graceful a hunter in the water as she was on land. He saw her pause, and then lunge, water splashing up around her and then sliding back down her skin—

"If you stare any harder she may burst into flame." Inda's amused voice at his elbow made him jump. He had practically forgotten she was there. He flushed, and Inda looked like she was trying not to laugh. "Put your eyes back in your head before you lose them," she said.

"Um..." Guy rubbed the back of his neck, but all he could think of to say was, "Sorry."

"She's very unusual," Inda commented, looking towards Eep. "I've never seen anyone with hair that color before."

"I like it," Guy shrugged, still blushing.

"I can see that," Inda smiled. "Tell me about her."

He took a piece of bone out of his pouch and drew his knife, if only to give himself something to look at. "Eep kind of defies explanation. What do you want to know?"

"Tell me how you fell in love."

Guy winced. "Dad told you."

"He did," Inda touched his shoulder. "But I pretty much knew already."

"Am I that obvious?" Guy made a face.

"You both are," Inda laughed. Belt chortled from her lap, and made a noise that sounded suspiciously like "told ya."

"Hey, hey, you hush," Guy told him. "You're supposed to be on my side."

"We're both on your side," Inda said, clearly trying not to laugh at him again. Belt flopped belly-up in her lap and let out a contented sigh as Inda scratched him. "You don't have to talk about it if it makes you uncomfortable, though."

Guy shook his head. "It's all right. Just...don't laugh if you can help it, okay? I'm still pretty new at talking about this kind of thing."

"I'll do my best," Inda promised, and waited while he gathered his thoughts.

"Falling for her, it—didn't exactly happen all at once. Not on my side, anyway." He could feel his face heating again. "She—well. Eep's, um...direct. And, well, you've seen she doesn't really have much of a concept of personal space. And, uh...she loves new and different and I was new and different and..." He cleared his throat.

Belt put his hands together by his face, opened his eyes wide, and sighed deeply, draping bonelessly over Inda's leg in a feigned swoon.

"She threw herself at you," Inda grinned.

"Something like that," he admitted. "I didn't think that much about it at first, I mean, it was nice and I thought she was cute, but I was...um...focused. You know, places to go, certain death to escape." He shrugged uncomfortably. "Anyway, circumstances being what they were, we got to know each other pretty quickly, and I found out she was actually—" he smiled. "I don't know. Funny, even though she's led a pretty gloomy life. Smart, even though she's never had a chance to learn. Brave, even though she'd been taught to be scared of everything. Just...full of life." He glanced at Inda, feeling rather stupid, but she just nodded at him to go on.

"Then one day we fell into a rock formation – a bunch of pillars and caverns, it was all a big maze, and we all got separated. When I got out, there she was, reaching up for the sun. And something inside me — I don't know, broke, or shifted, or something," he shook his head. "It's hard to describe. But that's when it started. Or..." He stopped, rethinking his words. "It wasn't the start, there were a bunch of things before that, but that moment – that was the landslide, for me. I suddenly realized how much I wanted her with me – not just so she wouldn't die, or so I wouldn't be alone. I wanted to be with her."

Inda smiled. "Poetic. Like your father."

Guy shook his head with a quiet chuckle. "No. You're the one with the poetry. If Dad has any, he gets it from you."

It was Inda's turn to blush. Guy outright laughed at the look on her face. "It's true," he said. "I saw it even when I was little, although I wouldn't have been able to put it in words back then."

Inda put a hand over her red cheek, and tried to turn the conversation back on him. "And Eep inspires you?"

Guy grinned, looking back at his carving. "I'm not sure 'inspire' is quite the right word. She challenges me, that's for sure." His smile faded.

"What is it?" Inda asked gently. "You can't think she doesn't care for you."

Guy almost snorted. "Eep's a lot of things, but 'subtle' isn't really one of them." He was silent for a moment, and Inda waited as he tried to put his feelings into words. "I know she cares for me, but...she's been so—sheltered." He shrugged helplessly. "She's still figuring herself out, figuring out life and what she wants from it. I want her to be able to do that. If I start talking about love and the future—" He shook his head, frustrated with his inability to describe the feelings he was still trying to understand himself.

"You don't want to hold her back," Inda said, and Guy's eyes widened slightly. "And even though she cares for you now, you're afraid she might outgrow her feelings for you. So you don't want to bind her—you don't want her to bind herself—with promises she might regret later."

"Yeah," he said earnestly, leaning forward. "That's it exactly."

Inda was silent for a moment, looking thoughtful, and when she finally smiled, was a little sad. "Perhaps I should say you're being very prudent. But—" she hesitated. "Would you like to know what I really think?"

Guy nodded.

"I think you are very much in love, and that life is too uncertain to risk letting that go unsaid." Inda bit her lip, and then continued. "When you—when we were separated, there were so many things I wished I had said, that I wished I had told you, and I always thought there would be time later when you were older and could understand better. But we never got that time." She took Guy's hand and squeezed it hard. "Yes, she may change with time. You may even change yourself. If that happens, it'll hurt. But you and I both know how suddenly everything can change, how quickly you can lose someone you love. You're still young, and by all that's fair in the world, you should have plenty of time. But life isn't fair. You don't have to promise your life to her right now, but if you love her, you shouldn't let fear of the future stop you from telling her so. I know you want her to be free to make her own choices, but you can still let her do that." Inda smiled slightly. "I think letting her know that you are one of her options is perfectly justified. It'll be hard for her to decide what she wants if she's not sure what she can have."

"Rrr rrr," Belt said approvingly.

"I hadn't thought about it like that," Guy admitted.

Inda nodded. "If you tell her how you feel, and then you do grow apart, at least it won't be because she got tired of waiting for you to decide whether or not she's grown up enough for you and moved on."

Guy stared at her. "That's not what I—"

"Isn't it?" She quirked an eyebrow. "You're trying to protect her because you're afraid she's not mature enough to make her own decisions about what she wants."

Guy opened his mouth, and shut it again, thinking.

"What you have now is only the seed of something greater," Inda said. "But it can't become anything else – it can't grow beyond a certain point, until you stop holding back. It may grow, blossom, and fade, or it may become something tall and strong and long-lasting." She smiled. "But you can't know what it would become until you let it grow. Just be honest with her. That's my advice." Inda dropped her eyes, her fingers still making lazy circles on Belt's belly. "Of course, it's your decision. I just want you to be happy."

Guy looked down at his own hands, reeling.

"Is there something else?" Inda prompted.

Guy smiled, starting his carving again. "It's kind of lame."

"I'm your mother," she reminded him. "I'm pretty sure I'm incapable of thinking you are lame."

Guy chuckled at that. "It's just that – part of me wishes that I was a choice. That I'm not just the first male who happened to come into her life." His smile fell a little. "Part of me thinks it's probably a good thing she doesn't have any other options."

"Guy," Inda chided. "Why would you say that?"

"Come on, Mom, I'm not exactly irresistible. As has been proven. Repeatedly," he muttered, reddening again.

"Your situation was difficult, and good girls are usually taught to stay away from rovers," Inda waved a hand dismissively. "I doubt it had much to do with you personally. But if it makes you feel better, I wasn't really a catch at your age either." Guy looked up, eyes widening slightly. "I was convinced no one would ever want me, until your father did." She smiled at her son's incredulity. "I was thin and weak and weird, and whenever I opened my mouth, people stared at me like I was crazy. Your dad was the only one who ever saw poetry, or anything else, in me. I thought my father was going to dance for joy when Pal offered to take me off his hands."

"Mom," Guy said, shocked. Inda shrugged.

"It's the truth. But my point is, even though I wasn't the kind of girl everyone swooned over, your father looked at me and saw what made me different, and loved me for it."

"I think you're beautiful," Guy said decisively.

Inda smiled. "Thank you, son. I happen to think you're quite a handsome young man myself. Do you think Eep would have been happier with someone more like her father?"

Guy shook his head slowly.

"It's true that she probably likes you at least in part because you're different. That much would be true no matter how many others she met. I know you haven't been around that many other people, but trust me when I say you are very unique," Inda smiled.

"That much, I believe," Guy muttered.

"If it helps," Inda said gently, touching his arm, "I don't think her feelings would have lasted very long if that's all it was. Maybe it started that way, once you settled into the normal routine of life, and you stopped being new and interesting, those feelings would have faded, not gotten stronger. You're closer now than you were when you first got here?"

Guy nodded slowly.

"That's promising," Inda smiled. "I think it's far more likely that she finds you interesting and exciting for reasons other than just because you're new. But I am your mother, so I have to assume I'm biased."

Growing uncomfortable, Guy changed the subject. "I've never had to plan ahead before," he told her, stretching his long legs out in front of him and leaning back against a driftwood log that lay behind them. "I never could, because I didn't know what I was going to run into. If I tried to think farther than a day or two ahead, I would just be...paralyzed. I had to take everything as it came, one day at a time. I had to make quick decisions." He shook his head slightly. "This idea of actually having a future, it's...new. I guess maybe I'm not handling it that well."

Inda reached over and stroked his forehead. "You're handling it just fine. This is a big deal under normal circumstances, let alone in this...situation."

"Huh. This situation being that we have no idea whether anyone else survived, and where they are if they did?"

"Well, that and normally there are customs around this kind of thing so you at least know how to go about courting." Inda smiled. "And you'd have grown up with a whole village worth of girls to practice on."

Guy made a face. "I think I'm just as happy that I only have to worry about one girl and an overprotective father, and not a village full of gossips and rules." He paused. "What was it like when you and Dad were courting?" he asked, curious.

"Oh," Inda said, smiling, her eyes taking on a distant look. "At first we just talked, whenever we ran into each other around the village. Then he started stopping by my father's home to talk to me, in the afternoons after he got home. He would tell me about where he'd been and what he'd seen that day. Then he started coming by with things for my father, and people really started talking." She smiled. "Your father was actually the youngest in his family, so his parents were getting along in years—"

"Wait." Guy propped himself on his elbow and turned to look at her, amazed. "Dad had brothers and sisters? How come I don't remember them?"

"He had three brothers," Inda said, folding her hands in her lap. "The next youngest fell sick and died when he was still a teenager. Pal was still a young man when the other two were killed in an accident. It was all before your time."

Guy's throat tightened. He'd had three uncles that he'd never even known. He wondered if either of them had a mate, if he had cousins out there – and almost opened his mouth to ask. Then he remembered that even if he did, they were all dead now. He shut his mouth again and sighed.

"When his brothers died," Inda continued, "That left Pal as the main provider for the family, with his father growing old and stiff. He was good at it, in spite of his wandering feet, which meant he had—" She paused. "Options other than me," she finally said delicately, looking down. "So there was quite a bit of talk when he started bringing by food and tools and things that we needed, or helping my father with tasks I wasn't strong enough for. I didn't have any brothers or sisters, you see, and my mother had passed away the year before, so it was just the two of us to keep the household up and do our part for the tribe. Pal took care of his parents and still found time to come do enough of the work around our place that I would be free to walk with him."

It wasn't hard for Guy to imagine his father coming by to help out, doing his work all while watching Inda out of the corner of his eye, finding excuses to talk to her or brush her hand, counting the minutes until the work was over and he could be alone with her for a little while.

"Papa loved him," Inda smiled. "Do you remember your grandfather at all?"

Guy frowned. "Maybe a little. I'm—I'm not sure." He'd forgotten he even had grandparents. He thought, now, that maybe he remembered somebody, warm, bony, and wrinkled, but he couldn't find a face to go with the feeling.

"Well, I didn't fare so well, with his family," Inda sighed. "Pal's mother was a terrifying woman. She didn't much care for me. She thought Pal could do better."

Guy stared at her incredulously.

"She died before you were born," Inda said thoughtfully. "Well, Pal's father didn't really care, he worshipped the ground Pal walked on and anything that Pal wanted was fine with him, and your father can be stubborn when he wants to be. She said I would be a burden, that he would be stuck taking care of his family and mine both." She gave an impish smile. "He finally told her that it was his burden was his business, and he would take care of all of us just fine."

Guy grinned. "Way to go, Dad."

"I felt bad about it, for a while," Inda shrugged. "I hated coming between them, but she forgave him quickly." She grinned wryly. "I'm not sure she ever forgave me, but so it goes. I never warmed up to her either. Pal was as good as his word, though, he took care of both our families until—" She stopped.

"Until you left," Guy finished softly.

"His parents were gone by then," Inda said, staring at the ground. "My father was still alive, but he was—" She took a deep breath, her voice trembling. "He was in no shape to travel. Pal would have carried him, but he...refused to go." She put her hand over her eyes. Belt made a sympathetic noise, putting his clawed paws gently on her knee.

Guy pushed himself the rest of the way up and put his arm around her. "I'm sorry, Mom. I didn't mean to make you upset. We don't have to talk about it."

Inda shook her head. "No, it's all right. That was a long time ago." Her breath shuddered in spite of her words.

"Anyway," she said after a moment, letting her hand fall away from her eyes, "To get back to your original question, that's pretty much how it went. He worked, we talked, we walked." She smiled. "It hardly even mattered what we said. I could listen to his voice for hours." She blushed, covering her cheek with her hand again. "Then one day he kissed me and told me he was going to talk to my father, if I was okay with it. Obviously, I was. There was a beautiful full moon the night we had the binding ceremony." She suddenly glanced at Guy curiously. "What do they do? Cavies—cavepeople, I mean. They must have their own ritual. Do you know?"

Guy's felt his face heat. "Yeah, I asked Gran once and, uh...there isn't one. A feast or a ceremony, or anything."

"Nothing?" Inda's eyes widened.

Guy winced. "Yeah, apparently it's pretty much ask and have. Once the trade is agreed and paid...how did she put it? 'She's officially your problem.'" He fidgeted uncomfortably.

"That's barbaric," Inda muttered, her brows drawn. "Well, we'll have to see about that."

Guy smiled. "Little early to be worrying about that, Mom," he reminded her.

"Hmph."

* * *

Pal was impressed.

Eep picked up the technique much faster than Guy. She was a born hunter; it was obvious in every line of her. It took her a while to learn to move quietly enough in the water not to startle the fish. Her tendency on land to leap and pounce kicked up far too much splash in the water. Once she could sneak up on the fish, she missed exactly twice before she got the hang of compensating for the water's distortion.

"Well done," Pal congratulated her as she hauled the flapping fish out of the water. She giggled, and then tilted her head as she watched the fish thrash.

"Why isn't it dead?" she wanted to know. "Did I miss?"

"No," Pal shrugged. "They just don't die as easily as other animals, I guess. It'll die in a few minutes."

Eep looked at the gasping, thrashing fish, and then, moving with a speed that startled him, she picked up a rock and bashed the fish in the head with it. It lay still at once. Eep leaned over to look at it, and then drew the knife she wore across her body and stabbed it in the head.

Pal's mouth hung open as Eep calmly cleaned and replaced her knife, leaving the fish still and quiet in the sand. "That worked," she said, looking back up with him. "Now what?"

Pal shut his mouth and scratched his head. "Now we go back in, I guess. Unless you're tired."

Eep snorted and skipped back to the water. She stopped at the edge and looked back towards Guy and Inda, who were clearly absorbed in conversation. Her lips pressed together.

"Eep?" Pal went to her, frowning, and followed her gaze.

"She's sick, isn't she?"

Pal's head whipped around and he stared at the little redhead. Eep looked back at him seriously. There was no doubt in her face. "Guy's mom," she clarified, when he didn't answer. "She's sick."

Pal's lips and brows came together. He did not want to discuss this, but Eep's eyes were relentless. "I can smell it," she continued. "Old blood and—something else. I don't know what. But she's really sick, isn't she? That's why she's so thin and tired."

Pal held his silence for a moment longer, but then his shoulders slumped. "Yes," he finally said. "She's sick. It's nothing you can catch. Something's wrong inside her. When I first noticed, I took her to every healer or shaman I could find. None of them were able to do anything. They're not even sure what's wrong with her."

"Is it bad?" Eep asked quietly.

"I think so," Pal answered, even more quietly. Then he added, almost against his will, "Her appetite's getting worse. She's tired all the time, but she doesn't sleep well. Some days she can't even keep her food down at all."

Eep nodded slowly, and lowered her head, covering her face with her hand for a moment. When she looked up again, her eyes were wet. "You should tell him," she said, her voice full of sympathy. "He should know."

Pal looked away. "How am I supposed to tell him that?"

"He'll figure it out," Eep told him, her tone one of absolute certainty. "He doesn't want to see it, but eventually he will. He's too smart not to. You should tell him now." She paused. "I don't want to keep secrets from him. But it should come from you." She glanced back towards Guy and Inda. "We usually sit up by the fire for a little bit after the family goes to bed. You can come talk to him then."

Pal clenched his jaw, and looked back towards his mate and son. "She's been so much happier, the past few days," he sighed.

"So has he," Eep said, putting her small hand on his arm. "He really loves you both."

Pal put his hand on her head. "Come on. Let's catch a few more. You got the hang of this so quickly, maybe we can try diving next time."

"What's diving?" Eep asked, following him into the water.

Pal smiled. "How well do you swim?"

When they made their way back to where they had left Guy and Inda, they found Guy standing on the shore with Belt hanging around his neck. Both of them were peering out over the water.

"What's the matter?" Eep asked him, going to his side.

"Nothing," Guy said. "Probably," he added after a moment.

Pal followed his gaze. "Weather moving in," he observed.

"Yeah," Guy said, frowning. "It's still pretty far away, though. I think we're all right for a while."

"Maybe," Pal said dubiously, his forehead creasing. He and Guy looked at each other, and Eep looked between them, feeling like she was missing something.

Guy turned to her. "Done for the day? How'd it go?" He looked at the string of fish she had strung on a vine. "How many of those are yours?"

Pal laughed before Eep could answer. "All of them," he said, and Eep thought he sounded a little proud.

Guy's wide grin spread over his face. "I told you she was a fast learner," he said, slipping his hand into Eep's, and there was definitely pride in his voice.

"You also told me she gets distracted easily and never stops asking questions long enough for you to finish explaining anything," Pal teased, his grin turning a little wicked. Eep rounded on Guy and gave him a look.

"Um..." Guy grinned sheepishly back at her.

Pal laughed, and went to collect Inda. He made her climb on his back, threatening to haul her over his shoulder again if she didn't comply. Inda complained, but did as he asked, clinging around his neck like a child as he hooked his arms under her knees.

Eep sighed slightly as she and Guy trailed after them back into the jungle. She watched the two in front of her for a moment, and then glanced up at Guy. Her heart hurt for him.

He caught her look. "What?" he smiled.

"Nothing," she said, leaning over to rub her cheek against his shoulder. "You and your dad have the same smile, you know."

That made him chuckle, as she knew it would, and she tried not to look at him again as they made their way back.

When they were about halfway home, Eep stopped and sniffed at the air.

"What is it?" Guy asked, lowering his voice and looking around them.

Eep shook her head. "The wind shifted, that's all. It just feels…weird." She looked up at him. "Sorry, I know that doesn't make any sense."

"It's okay," Guy said, nudging her forward again. "Let's just get home."

When they got back, Eep left her catch with Guy and ran ahead to find her father.

"Ugh, again with the fish smell," he scowled, when she caught up to him.

"Never mind that," Eep said dismissively, glancing back at Guy. "Dad, we need to talk." Quickly, she recounted her conversation with Pal. Grug watched her while she spoke, glancing up once or twice to look for Guy, who was chatting with Thunk while they prepared the fish again. When she finished, his face was dark.

"You're sure we can't catch it?" he asked, but Eep thought his heart wasn't in the question as he looked for Guy again.

"Yes," she said. "Pal says it's something wrong with her insides." She hesitated and then added, "I think he's right. What I smell on her doesn't seem like a disease."

Grug nodded slowly, and sighed. "All right. Tell me what you need."

The weather was still bothering Guy; he watched the sky all through dinner, and he couldn't quite manage to relax as he had the day before. Everyone else seemed uncomfortable too, and he wondered if they were feeling it. The animals were definitely restless. Chunky paced the valley entrance, growling, and Douglas kept trying to dig under rocks and trees, and occasionally, under Thunk. Even Belt was fidgety from his perch on top of the rock Guy leaned upon.

Grug called them all to bed earlier than usual. Guy took one more look at the darkening sky, and then tried to put it out of his head as Eep came and cuddled up beside him. For a while, neither of them said anything.

"Everything okay?" Guy asked, finally, glancing at her.

"Huh?" She blinked up at him.

"You seem a little tense." He nudged her with his shoulder. Hers was tight where it rested against him.

"Oh," Eep said, and then abruptly asked, "Did you get bored waiting on me?"

He smiled. "No. I had a good talk with Mom."

"Yeah?" Eep said.

"Whenever I thought about my family, I always just thought about Mom and Dad and me, but talking to Mom made me realize that...that's not all there was to our family. I had uncles," he said with a smile, shaking his head a little. "Grandparents. I guess I must have known I had grandparents, I mean, but I never really thought about them as real people before. Even though they're gone now, listening to Mom talk, it made me feel like I'm part of something...bigger." He glanced at her and quickly away again, feeling his face heat at the thoughts that had followed him since then. About how, maybe, someday, he could have that again. Maybe someday he would be an uncle, a...father...and his parents and her parents would be grandparents, and maybe he'd have nieces and nephews and children and grandchildren of his own. It staggered him to think about it.

"Less than a year ago I had nothing," he said thoughtfully. "I couldn't even have dreamed about having what I have now. Eep..." He took a breath and faced her, moving to touch her cheek.

Her eyes slid off his and over his shoulder, and someone coughed behind him. Guy dropped his hand and turned.

"Dad," he said in surprise, seeing Pal standing there. "I thought you went to bed."

Pal looked at the ground. "We need to talk."

Vaguely Guy felt Eep's hand on his shoulder, felt Belt drop down from the rock behind him to cling around his neck, but he couldn't take his eyes from Pal's face.

* * *

Pal sat cross-legged next to his son, staring at his hands. Guy's eyes had grown as Pal spoke until they were huge in his pale face, and Pal couldn't look at them anymore.

"How sick?" Guy whispered. His knuckles were white where he clenched Eep's hand, but if she felt any discomfort at all, she didn't show it.

Pal spread his hands helplessly. "I'm not sure. Pretty sick. If you're asking me what's going to happen...when it's going to happen, I don't know. We just don't know enough about what's wrong with her. It might be years but—" his voice dropped, and he looked away. "I don't think so."

"You sound like you've given up," Guy said, his voice strained.

"No, of course not," Pal replied. "If you have any ideas, I'm all ears. I just don't know what there is left to try." He paused. "I think being here – finding you – has actually helped. She's making more of an effort than she did before. She's less likely to turn down food when you give it to her. She's sleeping more. And she's happy. Maybe that will be enough. I don't know."

"We have to do _something_," Guy shot back. "We can't just let her waste away and not do anything about it."

"I'll try any idea you have," Pal repeated. There was a long silence, and then Guy slumped against the rock behind him with a wordless noise of grief. Eep knelt in front of him and touched his face. He reached for her and she settled against his chest, putting her arms around his waist. He curled around her, burying his face in her hair. The boy's shoulders shook. Belt lifted a long arm to stroke Guy's hair.

Pal felt like he should leave, but he felt too heavy to move. He'd never had to put his fears into words before, and it somehow made them so much more real. He sat there, with his head bowed, and tried not to think.

After a moment he felt a touch on his hand. He raised his head to find Eep looking at him, one arm still around Guy, and the other reaching out to touch him. She bent her head close to Guy's ear and whispered something to him. Guy sighed and slowly unfolded, looking up at his dad. Eep moved out of the way, and Guy slid over to put an arm around Pal.

"I'm sorry," Guy whispered hoarsely. "You've had to do this by yourself for a long time."

Pal shifted to put his arm around Guy's shoulders too. "I want her to be happy. That means we can't just mope around her and act like the world is ending, no matter how hard it is for us."

Guy nodded.

A flicker of movement caught Pal's eye, and he looked up to see Eep backing away. "Eep," he said, and held out his other arm to her. She hesitated a moment, and then slowly came back. She sat next to him a little shyly, and Pal settled his other arm loosely over her shoulder. Guy reached across him to take her hand, and for a moment the three of them made a little circle, and Pal's eyes suddenly stung. Three had always been the number his family was meant to be, and here they were, three, and yet one was missing, and he was starting to understand that they might never have a chance to be truly whole. Three, and then Guy was lost and they had been two, incomplete, and now here they were, three again, and it wasn't enough.

He tightened his arms around both children for a moment, and then let them go. "I'd better get back to your mother," he said quickly, getting to his feet. He put a hand on Guy's head, and moved off. He glanced back to see Eep move back to Guy and put her hands gently on his arm. Pal smiled a little. Guy would be all right, given time.

Pal wasn't so sure about himself, though.

Guy was numb, one step removed from the reality that had just crashed down on him. Hadn't his mother said it, just today, how fast things could change? Hadn't he known it yesterday, as he sat in this same spot happy and content, that everything changes? He covered his mouth and choked back a sob. Eep put her arms around him, and he turned his face into her neck.

Someone else touched his arm, and he moved his head enough to see Ugga crouched beside him. Thunk crept up beside Ugga and laid a hand on Guy's arm as well. Sandy wriggled into his lap. Gran shuffled up and put her hand on his knee. Grug's great shadow fell over them all as he put one big hand on Guy's shoulder. Belt purred sadly around his neck.

They stayed silently with him for what felt like a long time. Finally Ugga said, "You should rest."

Obediently Guy stood, and the others shuffled to their feet around him. He found Eep's hand and gripped it tightly as they trailed back after the others. It had grown quite dark while they sat be the fire, and the old fear was gnawing at his belly. He stumbled on something in the grass, and Eep caught him.

"Sorry," he mumbled.

"We're almost there," she told him, steering him towards his bed. He let her lead him, but when she stopped in front of his bed, he tightened his grip on her hand.

"Don't leave me." Panic fluttered in his chest. "Please," he said. It was an effort to keep his voice low. "I don't want to be alone." He felt her sigh. "Please," he said again. "Just until I fall asleep."

She nudged him towards the bed. "I'll be there in a minute."

He had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from protesting, but he knew how much he was asking, so he let her go and groped his way into the pallet. Belt curled up tight against his stomach, and Guy counted the strokes of his fingers along Belt's fur until Eep's hand touched his arm. She hopped over him and stretched out behind him, sliding one arm around him so that her hand rested over his heart. With her warmth and strength at his back, the panic faded, some of the tension flowing out of him. He covered her hand with his own. He felt her lips brush his cheek. "Rest," she told him. He took a shuddering breath, and shut his eyes.

* * *

_Fun fact - the discussion between Inda and Guy here was the catalyst for this whole fic. I had been thinking about what Guy's parents would say about where he was and his relationship with Eep, and what he would ask them if he could, and so that scene was the first one I wrote for this fic, although it was WAY different in the original than it is now. I ended up splitting part of it out and turning it into the conversation in the last chapter with Pal, and after that I wondered if I even needed this one. But, I really liked it, and I think Inda has a different point of view than Pal, so I kept it. I hope it wasn't one of those "murder your darlings" moments where I should have left it out, but didn't because I liked it so much. My writing process is very non-linear so the chapter by chapter format is a bit of a challenge for me, because I can't change my mind later and go back and revise._

_Well. I could, but I don't think that would be very nice. :) _


	8. Unwilling

_Thank you to my reviewers, Maeve Howard, Kai Moon, Super Guest, and Karts of Sugar Rush! _

* * *

If he had known how hard it would be to wake up alone, he might have asked her to stay longer.

It was a gift that she'd stayed with him at all, wrapped him in her warmth and strength until he fell asleep. He knew that and he was grateful, but it still felt too much like old times, to wake up alone and grieving. Lingering in his bed would bring no pleasure today.

Guy made himself get up, and for once Belt didn't even protest. He just curled up around Guy's waist, his weight and warmth familiar and comforting. Guy stroked his pet gratefully as he emerged out into the grey light of a very overcast day. Belt made an apprehensive noise, and looking around, Guy agreed.

Chunky was pacing, a low-level growl in his throat and his tail lashing. The liyotes were gibbering and scampering around the valley instead of sunning themselves on the rocks. Pal was already standing in meadow, staring up at the sky.

Pal turned his gaze on Guy as the boy approached. "I think maybe we better go down to the beach and have a look," Pal said to him, his voice laced with concern. Guy looked up and around.

"Yeah," he agreed. "I'll get Grug. I think he needs to see this too."

A short time later, the three men stood on the beach, looking at the whipping sea. Outside of the shelter of the valley and the trees, the wind was blowing hard. Over the ocean, a thick, wide spiral of clouds hung in the distance, dipping low in the center towards the water.

"Not good," Pal muttered.

"What?" grunted Grug.

Guy gestured back and forth so quickly that Grug could barely follow him. "Cloud formations, pressure change, animal behavior. All points to a big storm coming."

Grug looked around, sniffing the air. "Yeah. I think you're right," he said, after a moment. "This doesn't feel...normal." He shifted uneasily, crouching down and bracing his weight on his knuckles, as if preparing for a blast of wind to come at any moment.

Guy looked at his father. "Please tell me I remember these sea storms being big and scary because I was just a kid."

"I'm afraid not," Pal said grimly. "They can be pretty awful, especially the ones that looked like that." He waved a hand at the clouds. "We're not going to be able to weather this in that valley of yours. If you don't have any other shelter, we had better start looking for some fast."

"Yeah, we do, but..." Guy put his hands over his face and muttered a word he'd learned in the nomad camps.

Pal glanced at him. "Don't let your mother hear you say that," he said mildly.

"Sorry," Guy dragged his hands down his face. "It's just—Eep's going to have a fit."

Grug snorted. "That's an understatement." He looked at Guy and grinned. "You can tell her."

"Great," Guy muttered.

Pal frowned. "That doesn't seem fair," he said quietly to Guy.

Guy shook his head. "It's fine. She'll take it better coming from me."

"I don't get it." Pal looked at him. "What's the big deal?"

Guy sighed. "It's a long story."

Pal looked at him a moment longer, and then turned back to the sea. "These things move pretty fast," he said. "We'd better hurry."

"Any idea how long?" Guy asked.

Pal shook his head. "No telling. Just depends on the winds. It's still pretty far away but you can already feel the wind picking up. I'd say we'd best be under cover well before nightfall, because if it doesn't start this afternoon, it'll definitely start before morning."

"I'll head back and get things moving. Meet you back at the valley," Grug said, taking off as soon as the words were out of his mouth.

Guy stared at the clouds moodily. It was a lesson he'd learned many times over the years. Time, nature, the world, life, whatever you wanted to call it – it didn't wait, no matter what. It didn't wait when you were tired, or hungry, or hurt, or grieving, and if you didn't get up and move, it—well, in his experience it tried to dump you in a river of lava. The outcome would be different this time, but the principle was the same. Life didn't even leave you time to sit around thinking about the unfairness of it all.

As they turned back into the jungle, Pal put his hand on Guy's shoulder. "How are you doing?"

Guy tried to smile. "Not so great."

"I'm sorry, son." Pal sighed. "Maybe I shouldn't—"

"No," Guy interrupted sharply, and then softened his tone. "No, I needed to know." After a moment, he asked, "How long has she been sick?"

"It's hard to say," Pal shook his head. "She hasn't really been herself for a long time. I'm not sure how much of it was being ill and how much of it was...other things." He hesitated.

"Tell me," Guy said, glancing at him.

Pal looked back at him, saw the squared shoulders and set jaw, and reminded himself that Guy was a man now, and deserved more than the platitudes he would give a child. Even if that meant admitting things he preferred not to think about.

"Everything that happened – leaving the village, the constant running, losing you, always being on the move...it really took a toll on her," Pal began. It hurt to remember – it hurt to think about how badly he'd failed her. "She...she cried all the time. For no reason, or at least no reason she would tell me. Sometimes she would go days without speaking, just saying yes or no if I asked her something directly. She ate food when I gave it to her, she rested when I told her too, and the rest of the time she just trailed along behind me like—" He shook his head. "She got better, some, eventually, but then sometimes she would just...fall back into it. Sometimes for a few days. Sometimes longer – weeks, or even months. So..." Pal shrugged uncomfortably. "When she stopped eating, I just thought...it was starting again. I had—" he winced. "I'd gotten so used to her crying at night that I usually slept through it. So when she was tired, I just thought she had been awake crying again." Pal hung his head. "I wasn't paying attention like I should have. I kept thinking, if I could just get her here, somewhere where she didn't have to run anymore, then maybe she could...be better. I was just so busy trying to keep us both alive..."

Guy had to smile at that, just a little bit.

"We saw the first healer because I wanted another child," Pal continued, his voice rough. "Not to replace you, you understand, but she loved being a mother and I was getting desperate to have her back. I thought, maybe if we had another baby, she would...wake up." Guilt radiated off him in waves so palpable that Guy's heart ached for him. "When the healer started asking her questions..." Pal shook his head. "He treated Inda kindly, and then took me aside and took a piece out of my hide. After that I started paying more attention. I made sure she ate, I let us rest more often. She got better, but she never really got well. Since then she's been up and down so much that she's convinced herself there's nothing really serious wrong with her." Pal sighed. "I wish I could believe that, but I don't. Any time we passed through a tribe that had a healer or a shaman or even an old herb-woman, I took Inda to see them, but it was always the same thing. They all agree something is wrong, but none of them know what, or how to fix it."

Guy nodded slowly. He took a deep breath, thinking about everything Pal had told him.

"I'm so sorry," Pal said, his voice barely audible. "I'm sorry I didn't see it sooner. I'm sorry you have to deal with this now."

"Hey," Guy stopped, catching his father's arm. "You did the best you could. I know it. I know you love her, Dad. But you're still just one person. And—" It hurt him to say this, but he told himself that admitting it was not the same as giving up. "Some things can't be fixed." He stepped forward and hugged Pal. "I love you, Dad. I know you always did your best for us."

Pal was startled for a moment, but then he put his arms around his son and squeezed him tight. "I love you too, son. And I'm so, so proud of you."

When they got back, Grug was already bustling around, and the crease in Ugga's forehead showed that she'd been told what was coming. When Grug saw Guy, he jerked his head towards the waterfall. Guy found Eep sitting there with Inda, their heads together as Inda showed her something on the flute. Guy's heart ached at the sight of his mother. He gave her a smile when she looked up, but fixed his gaze on Eep. "Can I talk to you?" he asked.

Eep handed the flute back to Inda. She got up and followed Guy, who walked aimlessly along the cliff wall until they were out of earshot of the others. "How are you doing?" she asked quietly, touching his hand.

Guy shook his head. "It's hard. Thanks for staying with me last night. It meant a lot." He stopped and turned to face her. "There's a storm coming," he told her. "A bad one."

She blinked at his abrupt change of subject. "Okay," she said blankly.

He braced himself. "We're going to have to take shelter in the cave."

Her reaction to the word was immediate. She stepped back and squared off with him, planting her feet and lowering her shoulders. Guy automatically lifted his hands in a placating gesture. "Eep, there's no other choice," he began, but she cut him off.

"No! No more hiding. No more caves. Remember?" Her eyes on his were desperate, tearing at his heart, and he took a breath.

"This kind of situation is exactly why we cleaned out that cave in the first place," he reminded her.

"You cleaned it out," she interrupted accusingly. "You did. I told you when you found it that I wasn't going in it, ever, and I'm not going in it now."

"This isn't a normal storm, Eep," he tried to reason with her, throwing his arms out as he tried to make her understand what was coming. "This is going to be big. We can't be out in the open, and nothing we can build before it gets here will hold up. The rain will come down so hard and fast that the valley will flood. The wind could get strong enough to take down trees, or worse. I know you feel it, you said yesterday you could tell the weather didn't feel normal. You know we need to do this."

She eased out of her fighting stance, slowly, and then turned away from him, folding her arms tightly.

"Eep," he approached her cautiously and put his hands on her shoulders. "It's only temporary. Just until the storm passes. Please."

"How long?" she muttered.

Guy hesitated. "I don't know. Maybe a day. Maybe a couple of days," he said.

Eep growled, shoving his arms off her, and pelted for the valley entrance at top speed. Guy took one step after her and stopped, knowing it would be useless to chase her. She'll come back, he thought. Once she's out there, she'll see. She has to come back.

"Guy?" Inda came up behind him, and put a hand on his shoulder. "Is everything all right?"

He turned and looked at her, and threw his arms around her, pulling her tight to him, burying his face in her shoulder. She was thin, tiny in his arms, how could he not have seen it before?

Inda put her arms around him and rocked him as if he were still a little boy. "Did you have a fight?" Inda asked gently, stroking the back of his neck soothingly.

"Sort of," he muttered into her shoulder.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

He squeezed his eyes shut. "No."

"Okay."

Guy wanted to stay there with her, to hold onto her as long as he could, but he knew he couldn't. He took a deep breath and let her go. "I have to go," he said, turning away quickly. "I've got work to do. There's a storm coming and we have to get ready." He met her eyes, and his heart twisted. He turned quickly.

"Okay," Inda watched him go, puzzled.

The storm preparations made it abundantly clear to Pal who was really in charge of the family. The Croods all looked to Guy for direction, and though Grug blustered and gave orders, his orders were usually barely paraphrased reiterations of Guy's suggestions. Pal was impressed at the way Guy handled the situation, too, letting Grug take all the appearance of authority while quietly giving directions to the others so that the job actually got done, and giving Grug "advice" phrased in such a way that the caveman could take it without losing face.

"I learned the hard way that the direct approach doesn't work so great with him," Guy confessed to his father in an undertone when Pal mentioned it.

Pal himself had never gotten the hang of that kind of thing. Maybe if he had, he'd have been able to make the tribe listen to him when he told them what was coming.

He'd really not-raised a good kid.

A good kid who was really awful at hiding his emotions. His distress was written all over his face every time he looked at his mother, and Pal watched her expression go from puzzled, to hurt, to angry as she put the pieces together. He sighed and braced himself as Inda stalked up to him.

"What did you tell him?" she demanded, her thin fingers digging into his arm.

"I told him the truth, Inda," Pal said, as gently as he could. He pried her fingers carefully off his arm and folded them in his own.

Inda's mouth firmed to a thin line. "What truth? I'm fine. I keep telling you, you're making a big deal out of nothing."

"Yes, I am, Inda." Pal gathered a fistful of loose skin from her dress at her waist. "There's more and more nothing to make a big deal of every day. Did you think he wouldn't notice?"

Inda pushed his hand away. "It was just stress. I'm eating better now. I'll gain it back."

There it was, their polite fiction. She insisted she was fine so he wouldn't worry. He pretended to agree so that she wouldn't fret. He took her to healers and shamen "just to make sure" she was okay. She submitted to it just to humor him. Only now he had shattered that by finally speaking his fears, by telling Guy that his mother might be – was probably – dying, and suddenly the lie just seemed like so much work.

"I hope you do," was all he said, and he knew he was giving her the same look she had seen on Guy's face all morning.

Inda watched him for a minute, and then pressed her thin frame against his side. "You worry too much," she said, with a smile, and Pal knew she wanted him to laugh. He sighed instead.

"No," he told her, stroking her hair. "I don't."

* * *

Eep flitted from tree to tree. She dropped to the ground and ran, hurdling obstacles without conscious thought. She flew through the jungle until her muscles burned and she couldn't get enough air in her lungs to keep going.

She swung herself into a high tree and crouched on a limb, panting. When she had enough breath, she pulled herself up higher in the tree, until her head crested the green leaves and she could see Tomorrow laid out in front of her – including the massive roll of clouds out over the sea.

Guy was right. Everything felt wrong. The whole jungle knew this storm was coming, and a thousand different warning signs she could not consciously define had her instincts screaming at her. Retreat, run, hide, get away. It felt like a betrayal. Eep was not scared of anything. Fear was not who she was, not anymore.

She looked again at the thick swirl of clouds and the surging waves creeping up the beach.

_Fear keeps us alive, Eep_.

She was afraid, she admitted. But it was not the storm she feared.

Eep dropped back down in the tree until she found a sturdy branch, and she put her face in her arms and cried quietly until the burn in her muscles subsided and the shake in her hands went away. Then she climbed down out of the tree and went back home.

Everyone was working when she got back to the valley, and she felt a little guilty as she watched Thunk bustle across the valley with an armful of sleeping furs and pack them in a basket. Grug was moving large boulders over the smaller cave they used for storage. Gran, Ugga, and Sandy were nowhere to be seen, and Eep guessed they must be out gathering food or supplies. Pal and Inda were tying pieces of firewood into stacks small enough to carry.

Guy was in the middle of it all, dodging around moving people and talking constantly, sometimes to individuals, sometimes to himself under his breath, and without hearing him she knew he was cycling through some mental checklist over and over.

Eep watched him for a minute. He was trying so hard, but she could see the strain in him. His shoulders were tense, and he wasn't smiling. Guy not smiling looked wrong. Having something to do was probably the only thing holding him together.

She wasn't making it any easier for him, either. Eep cursed her timing. Maybe she shouldn't have pushed Pal into telling him. At the very least, if she had known what they were facing, she might have waited until after the storm. This was too much at once. It wasn't fair.

The look on his face when he turned and saw her made her ache. He was tired and hurting and he needed her, and she hadn't been there. She still wasn't sure she could be there, not if it meant—

She dropped her eyes as he came towards her. "I'm glad you're back," he said with a tentative smile. Eep stared at the ground.

"Eep..." he stepped close and took her hand. "Eep, I'm sorry. I wish there was another way, but I just can't think of any."

"I know," she said, still not looking at him. Fear crawled down her spine with claws made of ice. "I don't want to go in there," she whispered.

"I know," Guy sighed. "Look, let's just—take it one step at a time, okay? Let's just get the family ready, and then we'll—we'll deal with it." He looked away from her, his gaze scanning across the valley. "One thing at a time," he muttered, more to himself than to her.

Eep pressed her lips together for a moment, and then asked, "What do you need me to do?"

"Look at me?" he said a little pleadingly, tightening his fingers on her hand. It was work, but she dragged her chin up and met his eyes.

"We'll get through this," he told her. "All of it. Okay?"

She tried to smile, but couldn't quite manage it. "Okay."

He did a little better, though it was nothing like his usual grin. "Okay. Uh, can you get the water skins and fill them up?"

Eep nodded. Guy squeezed her hand and let go, turning back to his own tasks.

* * *

"You had this planned ahead of time," Pal observed as they left the valley in a loose line, Grug leading the way. They all carried some kind of supplies; firewood, waterskins, some of the more useful tools, the baskets of sleeping furs.

"I knew we would need something when I picked the valley," Guy answered absently. "It's perfect in every other way, but it's low ground and with that stream in the middle – I remembered the ocean storms we used to get and I knew we would need better shelter. I checked out every cave in the area I could find. There were a few that were bigger, but there's some kind of tunnel system over this one that lets in fresh air and carries the smoke out."

"Don't ever tell me you're bad at planning ahead again," Inda murmured, and Guy gave her a tired smile.

Pal nodded to himself. So Guy had selected the valley for the Croods' home; he had begun to suspect as much. The nomad's eyes found Grug at the head of their group, and narrowed slightly. "These people owe you a lot," he commented.

Guy shook his head. "They don't owe me anything. They've been there for me too."

_They owe you at least enough respect that you shouldn't have to pander to that big idiot's ego_, Pal thought, but he kept it to himself.

When they arrived at the cave, Pal regarded the rock blocking the entrance with skepticism. The cave didn't look big enough to hold all of them and the supplies. Grug shouldered the heavy rock out of the way as Guy lit a torch, and the two of them went in to look around. The entrance was a little tight for the caveman, but looking in after them, Pal saw that there was a short tunnel that opened up into a roomy cavern.

The rock had done its job, and other than a family of mousephants tucked in a tiny corner, the cave was unoccupied and relatively free of debris. "Okay," Guy said, his voice echoing in the hollow space, "Looks like we're good. Let's get everything put away. It's going to get a little tight in here."

It didn't take long to get the cave ready. Soon the supplies were packed in the spaces that were too low for people to sit comfortably, a small fire was ready in the center, the sleeping skins were spread around the stone floor, and there was nothing to do but wait.

Guy and Pal stood outside, looking up at the sky. "Do you think we have time for a hunt?" Guy asked, hands on his hips. Belt had crawled up onto his shoulder and was looking out over the jungle, a clawed paw shading his eyes.

"I wouldn't risk it," Pal shook his head. "You won't find much, anyway. The animals know something's coming, they'll be deep in any hidey-hole they can find. We've all eaten well the past few days. It'll have to do." He tried to sound confident, but he sent a worried glance toward Inda.

Belt made an anxious, quavering noise.

"We'll be fine," Guy told him, stroking the sloth's sleek fur. "Just be thankful you and Douglas get to come with us. There's no room for the other pets."

The liyotes had disappeared early in the afternoon. Chunky had lingered a little longer, until Grug sent him off to find shelter. Guy wasn't too worried about them; animals knew what to do in a storm. He was more worried about the path they'd taken up to the cave washing out in the storm, or leaks in the cave from the tunnel system, or a thousand other possible circumstances he couldn't control or predict.

Experience had made him good at ignoring those kinds of worries, the ones he couldn't do anything about, and he had a more immediate concern. His eyes went to Eep, who stood as far away from the cave as she could get and still be in sight.

"The rain's going to start soon," Pal said. "We might as well go inside."

"You go ahead," Guy said, his eyes still on Eep. "I'm going to stay out here a little longer."

"Don't wait too long," Pal cautioned. "If you get soaked you'll be miserable."

Guy nodded. "We'll be fine." Pal sighed and left him. Guy stood watching Eep as the sky darkened and the wind began to pick up. She hardly moved, which at least meant she wasn't running away.

"Guy," Grug lumbered up beside him. "We shouldn't wait any longer. It's time."

"I know," Guy said, his jaw tight. Grug looked beyond him to Eep. "She can't stay out here," Grug said, moving past Guy with a look of determination.

"Grug," Guy said, and the caveman stopped, looking back at him.

Guy took a deep breath. "Let me talk to her," he said carefully.

Grug looked away, and then nodded, retreating back to the cave entrance.

Guy went to where Eep stood, her feet braced against the wind that was growing more fierce by the minute, looking out at the jungle. He put his hand on her shoulder. "Eep, we have to go."

"No," she said, her voice shaking. "I'm not going in there. I'm not."

"It's not going to be like it was before," Guy told her. "It's just until the storm is over. Then we'll come out and you don't have to go back."

"You don't know that," she said, folding her arms. "You don't know what he's like. Once he has us back in there, he'll never let us out again." Her eyes were wide and frightened.

"Even if he tried, he couldn't keep us in." Guy tried a smile. "Even your dad couldn't stop the two of us together."

Eep shook her head and shrugged his hand off her shoulder. Guy sighed.

"Eep, it's not safe out here." The moment the words were out of his mouth he knew it was the wrong thing to say.

Eep turned to face him, backing away as she fixed him with a hard look. She stopped with her feet planted apart and her shoulders lowered, as if she expected him to rush her and was braced for the blow. "No."

The idea of forcing her was equal parts disturbing and laughable. Even if he'd been willing to try, he had no doubt she would fight him, and win, and she'd be long gone before Grug could even get to her. Guy clamped his mouth shut and considered his options. She was clearly more afraid of being locked away again than she was of the storm. This was fear beyond reason, like his fear of the dark. Eep didn't trust Grug. Guy had to remind her that she could trust him.

"Eep," he said, fighting to keep his voice low and even and his eyes steady on her. "I can't make you come in. I wouldn't, even if I could. This is your choice. But if you stay out here, you will get hurt, probably badly. You'll probably die. I believe that," he said, taking a step towards her. "I do. This isn't something we can fight or run away from or trick." He took a deep breath, desperate to find the right words, the ones that would get through to her. "Eep, I don't want to lose you. There's too much left out there for us to find and see and do. So I'm asking you. Please." He held his hand out to her. "Come with me."

Eep rocked like the words were a physical blow. Her eyes went from his hand to his face and back again.

Guy waited, eyes steady on her face.

She took a step towards him, and then another. She slowly put her hand in his. He closed his fingers carefully around hers.

"Promise me," she whispered. "When it's over—"

"I promise," he interrupted. "Just until the storm is over." He waited a moment longer, and she nodded slowly.

Guy stepped to her side, clearing her path to the cave. He kept his hold on her hand light and gentle. Eep took a step towards the cave and stopped. Guy waited. When she stepped again, he moved with her. They went slowly toward the cave. Each time she stopped, Guy stopped with her, and waited until she was ready to keep going.

Finally, they stood at the entrance to the cave. Guy let go of her hand and walked through the jagged hole in the cliff wall. He stopped just inside and waited, looking back at her.

For a moment, he was afraid she was going to run. Finally, she lifted one small foot and stepped forward. She crossed the cave entrance, and moved inside.

Guy threaded his fingers through hers as Grug moved the heavy stone across the entrance.


	9. Unhurried

_Thank you Karts of Sugar Rush and lynnwiley for your reviews on the last chapter! Much appreciated as always, and thanks to everyone who's followed or faved this as well!_

_I think we're winding down to the close of this story soon, so just as a reminder, I will let you know when I post the final chapter, and you can post any questions you have about the story at that time. I'll post an author Q&A at the end of the epilogue._

* * *

It was awful. Guy didn't know how Eep – bright, vibrant, strong, active – how she had ever lived like this.

The first few hours weren't so bad. There was some grumbling and shoving as everyone jockeyed for position, but eventually they worked it out. By the time the space was sorted, the rain was pounding outside, and the wind was beginning to howl. The light around their boulder door faded and then was gone. With no sun, no night sky, no tide, none of the natural things that Guy had subconsciously used to mark the passage of time, one hour stretched on into the next, and he soon had no idea how long they had been in the cave, or how much longer they were likely to be there.

Eep's hand clamped down on his bouncing knee for the fifth time. "You should sleep," she told him. "It goes faster if you sleep."

"You're not sleeping," he pointed out, and she shrugged and looked away.

Guy had steeled himself to support her, to be there for her, but the truth was, once the choice was made and she was inside, she was calm – much calmer than he was. Guy was fidgety and restless. Eep was just...quiet.

The rest of her family had gone to sleep almost immediately. Grug sat with his back to the entrance, blocking what little wind and rain made it past the tunnel at the entrance, and stared into the fire, arms folded. The rest of the Croods were sprawled in a haphazard circle around the fire, some body part or another resting on another family member in an elongated version of their normal sleep pile. Inda and Pal were leaning on each other, hands entwined, neither speaking nor sleeping, on Guy's left.

"You were right, you know," Guy sighed, and Eep looked back at him. "I didn't know what it was like." He touched her hand tentatively. "I'm sorry."

Eep took his hand. "You were right, too. We needed to do this." She sighed. "No matter how much I don't like it."

Hearing that was a bit of a relief for him. He'd been afraid she would resent him for talking her in. "It's not forever," he reminded her softly.

"It better not be," she muttered, glancing at Grug.

"You don't really think he'd do that," Guy asked, lowering his voice so it was barely audible.

"Yes. No. I don't—I don't know." She hunched her shoulders. "Let's talk about something else," she said quickly, and he could feel the tension in her.

"What do you want to talk about?" he asked, squeezing her hand.

"I don't know. Anything. Tell me—tell me about some of the things you saw when you were traveling," she said desperately. "You know, before we met. What was the most beautiful thing you saw on the way here?"

_A hand, small and strong, reaching up to catch the sun. A curved silhouette, a flash of sunset color, balanced on strong, powerful legs. The slightest touch of fingers to fingers, the more solid press of palm to palm. Wide eyes that turned to him, full of trust and wonder. The sudden understanding that maybe...maybe he didn't have to finish this journey alone. _

Inda's elbow nudged his ribs, and he remembered to breathe, remembered to blink. "Uh," he stammered, passing a hand over his face. "Um, o-okay, let me think..."

He closed his eyes for a moment, tearing his thoughts from that image and moving back through his life. His mind skittered away from some memories, and even the good ones were tainted with the ache of loneliness, but not so deeply that he couldn't remember moments of beauty, times where he had stood still and stared.

"There are plains," he said slowly, his hands floating up as he spoke. "Big, open spaces full of tall grass as far as the eye can see. And when you stand there, it looks like it just goes on forever, that it never changes. But then you start walking, and it's full of these little hidden dips and hills." His fingers dipped and traced the shapes in the air. "When you first look at it, too, it all looks the same, but then you look more, and you see so many different shades of green. Some places the grass is almost yellow, and some places it's as green as the jungle, and there are all these in between shades. The sky goes on forever, and when the clouds come, they're thick and huge, as big as mountains."

Guy opened his eyes and found Eep's fixed hungrily on him, and his heart suddenly hurt for her.

He had the memories of countless sunsets, of mountains and rivers and forests, of the smell of grass after a fresh rain and the wind at his back and the endless sky over the plains. He had all of that, and he was miserable, ready to climb the walls and claw his way out with his fingernails.

Here in this cave they had the fire, Inda's music, and most of all, the knowledge that it would end.

Eep had had none of that — no memories, no fire, no music, and no end in sight. She'd had nothing but the dark and the desperate hope that maybe, maybe tomorrow she would get to see the sun for a few short hours.

She was so much stronger than he had ever realized.

"Go on," she whispered, nudging his knee, and he took a breath.

"Sorry. Uhh..." He shook his head slightly, trying to find his train of thought again. "Flowers," he said, "You're walking along and then suddenly the ground drops down in front of you, and there's a hollow full of purple flowers and the scent of them just hits you in the face."

He talked until he was hoarse, telling her about things he had seen. When he finished, Eep sighed wistfully.

"That was beautiful," Inda said quietly, passing him a waterskin.

"Thanks." Guy took it, resisting the temptation to drink half of it. He took a few swallows and then handed it back.

"Do you remember the stories your grandfather used to tell?" Inda asked.

Guy shook his head. "Not really, no."

"He was a great storyteller," Pal said, putting his arm around Inda. "He knew more stories than anyone else in the village. We all used to beg him to tell them over and over."

"He said those stories were our history," Inda added, stroking her fingertips over her flute. "The music, too. That those were the things that helped define us as a people."

"And now they're all gone," Guy said, looking at the ground.

"Not all of it," Inda shook her head. "I'm not my father, but I've heard those stories so many times. I—" she hesitated. "I could teach you. If you wanted."

Guy looked up at her. "Me?"

Pal smiled. "If you had been with us, we would have taught you long ago. That's how it's always been. The stories, the music, the history, they're all passed down from generation to generation."

Guy looked at her and looked at Pal, and thought of the uncles he had never known, the cousins that might have been, the grandparents he couldn't remember. He had felt it yesterday, that vague feeling of being part of something bigger, and now his mind expanded to add a great web of relatives and ancestors that he had never known. He looked down at the stripes painted on his body. For a long time, these had been the only ties he had to his heritage, the only thing his mind had clearly kept from those long ago days. The only reminder that there had once been a time when he was part of something, when he wasn't alone. Eep shifted slightly, just enough to brush her painted left arm against his. Her hand slid into his as Inda continued speaking.

"For a long time, we thought our traditions would die with us. But we're not the last of our tribe anymore." Inda touched his other hand. "If we teach them to you, and you teach them to your children someday, then our people still live on in you."

Guy felt his face warming slightly and resisted the urge to look at Eep. Belt snickered.

"I'd like to learn," he said, keeping his gaze steadily on Inda.

Inda nodded. "Okay."

"Later."

All four of them jumped and turned to look at Grug. "You should all rest now," the caveman rumbled. "You can tell stories later."

"He's right," Pal said quietly to his mate, and she sighed, but obediently curled up with him.

Guy stretched himelf out as best he could, and Belt curled up in his usual place against Guy's stomach. After a moment, Eep pressed against his back as she had the night before, draping her arm over his chest again. Guy tensed, expecting a reprimand, but none came. Apparently cuddling was permitted when you were crammed together with your entire family. He covered her hand with his and relaxed, and sooner than he could have expected, he dropped off to sleep.

He slept uneasily, his dreams restless. In his dreams, he was back on the plains, the scent of the violet flowers in his nose, the air heavy around him. The cloud mountains were thick and heavy with rain, and tinted green. Long fingers of cloud began to stretch towards the ground. The wind whipped his hair and he would never have believed there was so much in this empty country that could fly up and hit him. He flattened himself to the ground and covered his head.

Guy woke gasping, but could not immediately separate reality from dreams. The wind still howled, but he couldn't feel it anymore. He tried to jerk upright but he was still pinned to the ground.

"It's okay, it's okay," Eep's whisper by his ear broke through the howling wind. "You were dreaming." Her arm was tight around his chest, holding him down. "Be still, or you'll wake your mom."

Understanding began to flood back and Guy went still. Eep's arm relaxed a fraction. Guy closed his hand tight around hers and focused on trying to slow his breathing. Eep cuddled up against his back, nuzzling his shoulder.

"Thanks," he whispered.

"Does it still happen a lot?" Eep asked. "The dreams?"

"Not that often," he told her. "And not the—not the bad one. It's just been a rough couple of days, I guess."

"I know."

Guy sighed. "Storm's still going."

"Yeah."

"I don't even know how long we've been in here," Guy muttered.

"It should be a little while past dawn," Eep said.

Guy blinked. He couldn't see any difference in the darkness. "How can you tell?"

He felt her shrug. "I just know."

"Did you sleep at all?" Guy asked.

Eep shrugged again.

Guy rubbed his thumb over her fingers. "You've really been here for me with—with everything. Thank you." He felt her lips press into his shoulder and smiled. "When this is all over," he said, lifting his head to look over his shoulder at her as best he could, "We'll take a day and go do something together. Just us. Whatever you want."

She smiled for the first time since he told her about the storm. "Okay."

"Okay." He put his head back down. "It's a date."

"What's a date?" Eep asked, and Guy grinned.

"I don't know yet. We'll make it up as we go."

He felt her shake as she smothered her giggle. _I love you_, he thought at her, still stroking her fingers.

Then he paused. "Listen. Is it quieter?"

Eep lifted her head. "Maybe. Maybe it's ending?"

"More like the middle," Guy said regretfully. "There's a lull in these storms – then they start up again before they pass for good."

Eep groaned and let her head fall on his shoulder.

"Sorry," Guy sighed.

"I'm going to go crazy," she whispered, that desperate edge back in her voice.

"No. No, you're not." Guy rolled over to face her, taking her hands in his, his mind working furiously. Belt complained and snuggled into his back. "I'm sure there's something we can do to pass the time."

Eep raised an eyebrow. "It's a little crowded in here for that."

Guy flushed. "_Not_ what I meant," he hissed, glancing over at Grug, though his resounding snores should have been assurance enoguh. "What if we...play a game?" he said thoughtfully.

"What kind of game?" Eep asked, frowning.

"It has to be something that doesn't involve any running or jumping," Guy thought out loud.

"Doesn't sound like much fun," Eep grumbled.

"Just give me a chance, I can—I need some rocks." Guy sat up quietly, careful not to jostle Inda.

"Rocks?" Eep sounded confused.

"Yeah. Just little ones."

"Hang on," Eep said, and Guy waited as she moved carefully around the cave, somehow managing to go back and forth without disturbing any of the sleepers around her. She came back with a handful of small stones.

Guy took them from her and looked at them in the firelight, and sorted the dark colored stones from the light colored ones. There were far more light than dark, but he put the extra ones aside so that he had an even number of each. Then he squirmed over to the edge of the sleeping skins, careful not to nudge Inda, and drew a big square on the cave's sandy floor, and then divided it into smaller squares. He set the light stones into the squares on one side of the large square, and the dark stones in the other.

"There," he said, motioning Eep over.

"Now what?" she asked, propping her chin up on her elbows.

"Here's what I'm thinking," he said. "The light stones are yours. The dark stones are mine. We'll take turns moving them, one at a time." His brow furrowed as he thought a moment. "Like this," he said, moving one dark stone into a square diagonal to it. "You can only move into squares connected to your square at the corner, see? And then if we run into each other," he put a light stone in the path of his dark stone. "Then if it's my turn, my stone can jump over yours, and I take yours off the board. First one to take all the other person's stones wins." He glanced up at Eep. "Want to try?"

"Sure," she said, and Guy smiled to see curiosity light her face. He put the stones back into their lines and they began to play. Sometimes they had to stop and work out new rules when questions came up. They decided that it was against the rules to move backwards, and they argued whether it was okay for a stone to jump over more than one stone in a turn. Guy really began to enjoy himself and he was thinking about whether he could make some kind of board out of sticks or wood so that they wouldn't keep accidentally wiping out the squares when they moved the pieces when a voice over his shoulder demanded to know what they were doing, and he jumped half out of his skin.

"Argh," he groaned, glaring at Gran over his shoulder. "How do you sneak around like that in a tiny little space like this?"

Gran snorted and rapped him on the head with her stick. "How did you ever survive being this oblivious to everything around you?"

"Stop distracting him," Eep scolded. "It's his turn, let him move."

They barely managed to finish their game after that, with all of the Croods, and even Pal and Inda, wanting to know what they were doing. Guy taught Gran and then Thunk how to play, while Eep hunted up more dark stones and began to show Pal.

Ugga passed around some fruit out of the basket that she and Gran had gathered. Pal took his share but made no move to eat it until Inda finished hers. Pal handed his fruit to her.

"Pal, no, I don't—"

"Eat," he said shortly.

"You need to eat too," Inda protested.

Guy broke his fruit in half and handed half to his father. "Eat it, Mom."

"But—"

"Mom," Guy touched her hand. "Please. Just eat it." He was leaning with his elbows on his knees, and he looked up at her, dark eyes pleading.

"That's cheating," Inda muttered, and took a bite of the fruit.

Guy grinned and Pal chuckled. Guy broke his half in half again and gave one of the quarters to Belt.

Eep nudged his arm and Guy looked at her. She held out a chunk of her own fruit. He took it automatically, too surprised to argue.

"Giving away food," Gran mumbled from where she hunched over her share. "Kids these days."

Guy laughed.

Guy played another round of the new game with Pal while Eep played with Thunk. The calm outside passed and the storm raged again, the wind howling even more than before. They took turns with the new game until flaring tempers suggested that a break would be wise, and they all slept again. The storm raged on, long past when Guy had expected it to end.

"Is this normal?" Guy asked Pal quietly while Eep argued with Thunk over who would play the light stones, and who would play dark.

"No," Pal shook his head. "It should have passed by now." He chewed his lip, thinking. "It may be the mountains," he said, finally. "Maybe the storm couldn't move any further inland, so it's not passing over the way it normally would."

"Great," Guy muttered.

Late that day, they ran out of firewood. Guy tried to control his rising panic as the flame began to weaken.

"It's warm enough," Pal said, watching him. "We'll be fine without it. It'll just be a little dark."

"Yeah," Guy said, his mouth dry. Eep, frustrated and increasingly short-tempered as the storm went on, had finally gone to sleep, and he resisted the temptation to grab for her hand.

The fire faded, and then it was gone, and the darkness closed in on him. His heartbeat sped up, his breath came in harsh pants.

"Guy?" Pal's voice was concerned.

"I'm fine," Guy managed, but it wasn't very convincing, even to his own ears.

Arms suddenly circled him – not Eep's arms, short and strong, but the long thin arms of his mother wrapped around him, and he found himself pressed tightly to Inda's chest. "You don't have to pretend," Inda said softly, and the sound of her voice, her scent, the feel of her arms, took him back. The memories caught in his throat, and his eyes began to swim. He turned into his mother and put his arms around her waist.

Inda stroked his hair and his back, rocking him gently. He was too big, he thought, he didn't fit anymore, as he awkwardly folded up against her, but Inda didn't seem to care. She just held him, humming a quiet tune that was achingly familiar, but which had faded from his conscious memory long ago.

"I hate the dark," he mumbled into her dress. "Bad things happen in the dark."

"You're safe here," Inda soothed. "Nothing's going to hurt you."

"Don't leave me," Guy whispered, and Inda sighed and held him tighter.

"We're here. We love you," she said. "Nothing's going to happen to you."

It was too late – many, many years too late, but he took the comfort anyway, greedy for anything he could get. He was long past wishing for perfection, anyway. He felt his father's hand on his head, and most of his fear ebbed away. Eventually, he fell asleep sprawled across Inda's lap.

When he woke, the wind was quiet, and the sun shone around the boulder door.


End file.
